Addiction
by Phanatically
Summary: Jounouchi's senior year of high school is not what he expected. He spends his entire time working and missing the good times. Things are turned upside down when he discovers a secret he was never supposed to know.
1. Chapter 1

_Addiction is defined as the condition of being abnormally dependent on a habit, substance, or foreign entity due to something your body or mind thinks it needs. Everyone in my life is addicted to something. My pop is addicted to alcohol, my friends to each other, and my baby sister to celebrity gossip. Most people lose interest in their addictions as time passes, like my friend Mai and her favorite designer of the month or my friend Honda and which couch he wants to leave an ass-print on that week. Some addictions, like my pop's, are more serious and life threatening and last for years. These are the addictions ya need to look out for, the ones that ruin lives and careers. I know it ain't easy for these guys, but I care about 'em, ya know? I want to learn how to help 'em, but I don't know if I can._

"For the last time, Jou!" A high pitch voice screams into my ear.

"Mmm" I sigh. Swatting a head above my head. "Leave me be, Anz, I'm thinkin'"

"Better wake him up quick, I think he's delusional. That or he might hurt himself."

"Shaddup, Honda" I snap back. "I can think just fine!" I lift my head up just enough to scowl at him. "Why can't you let a guy sleep, eh?"

"Because it's time to go home, brainless. You've slept right through the end of the day." Honda rolls his brown eyes, shaking his head. "Honestly, what would you do without us?"

"Catch some more Z's" I sit up and stretch, yawning loudly. "I'd have figured it out eventually."

"Sure you would." Anzu nods flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Right after the doors were locked for the evening and you were stuck here all night."

"Whatever" I grumble, snatching my bag off the side of the desk. "Where's Yuug?" I ask, ruffling my hair and shuffling for the door. "I thought we were s'posed to hang out today?"

"That's tomorrow, bonehead. He's busy helping Gramps today." Honda reminds me as we head out of the room. _Shit, that means I work tonight._

"Honestly, it's like you never pay attention to anything." Anzu snickers, not noticing my brief grimace.

"Sure I do." I turn back and grin at her. "Such as when food is the topic of conversation."

"Or Duel Monsters, maybe sleep" Honda interjects as we turn a corner.

"Occasionally, but usually if we're talking about sleep he's usually the one sleeping." Anzu adds.

"Whatever." I grumble reaching the doors. "I'll catch you guys later, I'm gonna head home this way."

"Later, man!" Honda salutes as he and Anzu head further down the hallway. "Make sure you show up tomorrow! Possibly try to stay awake too!"

"Shaddup!" I snap back, heading out the doors towards work.

My friends don't get it. They don't get it 'cause I ain't tellin' 'em. I've been working two jobs to cover the cost of my rent payments. I know livin' on your own at 17 is frowned upon, but it sure as hell beats livin' at home with an alcoholic for a pop. I love my dad, but I need somethin' more, somethin' better. I can't take care of him forever, losin' my paychecks to his addiction rather than savin' up for my own place. I know most kids my age are savin' up for college, but I ain't that smart. What I am is determined to be successful, even if I have to work for it. I ain't gonna be like him, I'm gonna work hard and live a real life. And if the price I pay for being successful is less sleep then I'll pay it.

"Shit." I sigh under my breath, scratching the back of my neck. I can't be successful if I'm always sleepin' my way through class. "Damnit!" I growl kicking a rock down the street, shifting my bag on my shoulder. I can't take less hours at work and I can't spend as much time sleeping in class. "More coffee it is then." I sigh, jamming my hands in my pockets.

I'm tryin' not to get any of the bad kind of addictions. Addictions like smoking, drinking or drugs ain't what I'm worried about. I'm worried about the embarrassing, dependent kind. Like nail biting or knuckle cracking. My biggest worry is caffeine. The shit does wonders with the kind of life I've been livin' lately, but it's also addictive. I don't want to be dependent on anything other than myself.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Jounouchi-san. You're here early today?" A soft, kind voice interrupts my musings.

"Oh, hi Kanako-chan." I yawn, grinning at a petite girl with large brown eyes and long black hair. "I guess I walked here faster than usual. 'Sides, I'm only 10 minutes early."

"For someone who's always late, 10 minutes makes a difference." Her light, airy voice shakes with laughter.

"I like you, Kanako-chan. Don't make me hate you." I grin, flicking her nose as I walk towards my locker.

"You could never hate me, Jounouchi-san." Kanako has the lightest walk any person has ever known. It was like the pitter-patter of a cat behind me. Sometimes I feel like I need to glance over my shoulder to see if she's still there. Strange woman, very strange.

"Could if you kept doggin' on me." I wink back at her. "Who's service you on today?" I ask as I throw on my janitor's uniform. "Tell me it's not Dr. D?"

"One day he's going to learn what that D stands for. I'll miss you once you get fired." I roll my eyes, ignoring her dramatic fake sniffle.

"He ain't gonna find out if you don't tell him." I remind her, lacing up my dirty, old sneakers. "'Sides, all you have to do is bat your pretty eyelashes at him and he'll more than welcome me back."

"Nonsense." I roll my eyes again.

"Mmhmm. I'll see you later, I'm sure there's tons of medical waste lying about just screaming to get cleaned up." I finish pulling on my keycard over my neck and punching in my time card when a foul voice snaps from the door way.

"Late again, Jounouchi?" Dr. Shini's a total ass. I bite my tongue before I turn my head toward him, bowing slightly to show respect.

"Actually, I'm early today, Sensei."

"How interesting. Traffic must have been short." I grit my teeth to keep from saying anything less than polite.

"Must have been so." I agree, punching the code into the door that lead to the basement of the hospital. "If you'll excuse me, sensei, I need to meet with my superior now." I give a short, polite nod to both Shini and Kanako before I practically sprint away. I do not need to piss off Dr. D and get fired for it. Certainly when I'm barely holding on to my job as it is. Being a hospital janitor is a suck job, but it pays better than any job I've ever had. Even if I can only work afternoons, there's always work to be done.

"Jou-san, you're here!" I smile when I see my little, old superior.

"Takei!" I grin. "What ch'ya got for me today?"

"We have a nasty load today, son. Lots of patient rooms, nasty floors, and especially cranky doctors. You up for it? You seem tired, m'boy."

"And probably too skinny too." I winked at him. "Quit worrying at me, I'm in the prime of my health. I'm just too addicted to work to let it rest."

"Being a workaholic isn't good for you. Make sure you take a break sometime." Takei's wrinkly old face warms my heart. He's such a kind old man, with a balding head of gray hairs and droopy golden eyes.

"Don't worry, old man, at least I ain't an alcoholic or a shopaholic."

A warm chuckle rises from his chest as he motions for me to follow him to our first job for the night. "Oh, and before you leave for the evening, take some scones with you. Mara baked a storm last night."

"Arigatou." I grin patting my belly. I love Mara's baking.

* * *

The worst part about the days I work both jobs is I don't have enough time to rest between 'em. I have roughly 2 hours after a 4-hour shift before I have to show up for an 8-hour night shift at the Museum. Which of course ends two hours before school begins. Luckily I only do this four times a week. 8 Hours in school, 8 hours at the Museum, 4 hours at the hospital, and 4 hours to sleep. Got it.

This is why I don't tell my friends. A man with this little sleep begins to go crazy. That's why I only work at the Museum 4 nights a week. I alternate days of the week that I work both jobs in order to stay as healthy as I can and as caffeine free as I can.

I had to lie about my age at both jobs in order to get 'em, but I work hard to keep 'em. I get my homework done while I watch the monitors at the Museum and I eat at the hospital and at school. I often sleep during the boring classes too. It's a flawed system, but it's what I got.

I sigh as I swipe my ID card into the museum. As of two weeks ago I do the security night shift by myself. The Museum at night is creepy. Occasionally I'll see one of the janitors roam through the building on a monitor here or there, but for the most part there's nothing good that happens. I just sit there all night.

"Logs, done. Monitors, check. Math homework, ehh." I shrug, a guilty expression hitching my brows together. Who really needs this junk anyway? I'll never understand all these numbers and shapes, I just gotta pass. "Two more hours…" I sigh deeply, tapping my pencil against the desk. I can feel my eyelids drooping. "Damnit." I mutter standing up. "I can do this. I am not weak." I growl, pacing the room.

I pace until the end of my shift, clocking out as soon as the digits reach 00. I never have time to go home on these days, so I put on my school uniform and take a nap under my favorite tree on the school grounds colder days I just sleep in one of the empty classrooms. I skive off a few extra minutes of sleep and I have a human alarm clock every morning as well. It's a pretty good set up. This is how I spend my senior year.


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm not really sure how I do it. Work all night and go to school all day. I work hard to have a place to live even though some days I don't even make it home. It's kind of a weird loop. Work, work, work, play, work, work, work. That's what's become of me. It's weird, but I like it. I like being so busy I don't have time to think or feel. I've become numb to the sensation of being overtired all the time. I think I might actually be developing super powers. Sometimes, I can even pay attention during math class. I'd love to see SuperDude, or whatever his name is, do that. Next up for those Americans: Super Jounouchi! The Japanese kid who can actually do math!_

_Ah shit._ I internally groan, noticing I've just missed half of the explanation. _I'll never figure this out on my own._ I roll my eyes realizing it probably doesn't matter anyway. _I really shouldn't daydream about understanding math. It doesn't make sense!_I realize I must be going crazy. I hear that happens to people who rarely sleep.

To be fair, I do get regular amounts of sleep on the days I don't work at the museum. I work a few extra hours at the hospital, but I do get some sleep those nights.

I yawn, staring up at the clock on the wall. Just a few more minutes are standing between me and pizza-time with Yug.

It's all I can do to contain myself from jumping out of my seat and performing a victory lap around the room when the bell rings. I've managed to stay awake nearly the entire day. Without caffeine.

"Jou!" Yugi's tiny voice pipes up from my left. "Ready?"

"You bet!" I grin, grabbing my bag from my desk. "Let's get gettin'." I declare, leading the way to the door.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does. We're going to get and then gettin' and then damn. I'm confused." I confess, rubbing the back of my head. "It made sense a minute ago." I mumble and push another door open, heading towards the back entrance of the school.

"No it didn't." Yugi smiles, trotting beside me.

"Pretend it did then." I shrug, heading down another hallway.

"Sure." Yugi laughs, shaking his head.

"I gotta pee!" I announce suddenly, detouring for the men's room. _I can't believe I forgot I have to pee_.

"Okay?" Yugi laughs, following me in. "Just hurry up!"

"Yeah yeah, almost done. Ahhh, best pee ever." I sigh loudly, just for his benefit.

"I don't need commentary." He says absently, fiddling with his hair in the mirror.

"I swear I've got the smallest bladder known to man!" I complain, zipping my pants and washing my hands. "Alright, let's go." I nod my head to the door.

"Sure, sure." Yugi waves a hand in my direction, tugging softly at a blonde bang. I ruffle his hair gently, completely messing with the changes he just made. I laugh loudly at his expression and quickly lead the way back out of the men's room.

"That wasn't nice." Yugi grumbles, using his fingers to comb his loose strands of hair.

"I couldn't resist." I wink, heading off toward the front of the school.

"I thought we were going out the back?" Yugi asks pointing the way other way.

"Wha'?" I ask blinking at him.

"Yeah, the back?" He heads in the opposite direction. "It's the fastest way there."

"Oh, I forgot." I mumble, hurring to catch up. _We had just been going that way too! How did I manage that?_ "For a little guy you walk fast."

"You think so?" He asks staring at me. "You usually tell me I'm too slow. Did you become a slow-walking cyborg recently?" He asks, pushing the main doors open.

"Chalk that up to lack of… the hell is that?" I ask, stopping short at the top of the stairs. I can't help it, what I'm looking at just doesn't make sense. Directly across from me on the other side of the lawn is Seto Kaiba. The big bad CEO just lying under a tree, silver brief case unopened and no laptop to be seen. "Ya see that?" I ask, shamelessly pointing in shock.

"I'm not sure." Yugi adds, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What the hell is Kaiba doin'." I mutter grumpily. "He's just sittin' under that damn tree! Who does he think he is?" I demand, stomping my foot. "Lounging around like he owns the place." I shake my head and begin strolling away from the scene of the non-crime, damning him for existing.

"Maybe he's enjoying the weather?" Yuugi offers thoughtfully.

"No way, moneybags doesn't enjoy anything other than hostile takeovers and coffee. Guys a total robot." I shouldn't laugh at my own jokes, but I do. I'm always so tired everything's just that much funnier.

"You should really give Kaiba a break, Jou. We're almost friends now and it's our last year. You should try to make friends with him too."

"You on drugs?" I ask, peering closely at my best friend. "That's Kai-buh we're talkin' 'bout here. The richest and biggest bastard we'll ever meet?" I raise an eyebrows, staring at him while we stroll down the block. "He ain't capable of makin' friends."

"Of course he is, Jou." Yugi stops to glare at me. "You need to give him some credit. He's not always bad and you know it."

"Mokuba doesn't count." I counter, stopping to glare back.

"Does too. How can someone who loves his brother so much be all bad?" I sigh rubbing my left eye trying to scrub away the headache I can feel brewing just behind it.

"Fine." I sigh, stifling a yawn. "I'll try to see him as a human being instead of an alien cyborg. But that's all yer getting'." I grumble, starting back down the road again toward the pizza joint.

"That's all I ask." Yugi's says happily, falling silent for a while. "Hey, are you okay?"He asks suddenly, kicking a pebble down the street.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout, Yuug?" I ruffle his hair as we walk. "'Course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" I give him a goofey thumbs up, acting more energetic than I feel. No need to worry him for no reason!

"You're always tired and you've been sleeping in class a lot…" He states, I can hear the pause in his voice.

"I'm like a cat." I say, attempting a wise-sensei tone of voice. "All I wanna do is sleep and eat. It's not that unusual for a growin' boy." I wink. "Quit worrying so much. But, if you're worried for my health, feel free to feed me." I grin, rubbing my tummy. "It gets empty a lot. You people should learn to feed your pet cat." I shamelessly tsk.

"You're not a cat." Yugi laughs.

"Sure I am. A hungry one. Feed me!" I tip my head up to the sky and let out a long, silly mewl. "Hear that? That's the sound of one seriously starving Jou."

Yugi laughs and nudges me in the side with his elbow. "You're just trying to get free pizza!"

"Hey, nuttin' wrong with dat!" I crow, jamming my hands in my pockets. I continue shuffling down the street, a bounce in my steps. "Now let's get some grub!" I declare, spotting the pizza place in the distance.

* * *

"You're here later than usual." A wispy voice floats from the bed. "How are you, my boy?"

"Kanse-sama! You're awake!" I look up, grinning at a little old man. "I switched a shift so that I could spend time with friends this afternoon." I admit guiltily.

"That's good, that's alright." He smiles absently.

"Any good news today?" I ask, sweeping around his room.

"My family may come to visit me soon." He smiles, staring at the wall. "I hope they do. That would be nice."

"That would be nice, Kanse-sama." I smile and nod to him. "I'm sure they will come." I didn't know the guy had any family... strange. I sweep the dust from the floor into the receptacle deciding I'd probably just forgotten.

"You're such a sweet boy, Jounouchi-kun." He wheezes. "Always pleasant."

"Arigatou." I smile, bowing slightly. "That is very nice of you to say. You're always a pleasure to be around, but I must get back to work. I hope you have a wonderful evening."

"You too, my boy. You too. Come back and visit if you have the time tomorrow?" He asks kindly.

"Of course, Kanse-sama. You're my favorite patient." I grin, bowing politely as I leave. _I wonder if I'll have time to visit tomorrow? Hmm…_

"Jounouchi, what do you think you're doing?" A sharp voice barks behind me a few steps later.

_Ah shit. _I bite the inside of my cheek to curb my anger before turning around. "Shini sensei?" I question, keeping my face blank.

"You're not supposed to talk to the patients, let alone wake them up!" He rebukes, lips thin.

"But I didn't-"

"Don't lie to me!" Dr. Shini snaps. "If I catch you bothering another patient I'll have you removed from this hospital." He threatens.

"Yes, sir." I grind out, barely controlling my temper.

"Good. Now get out of my site, your shift should be over by now." He barks, storming down the hall.

"Bastard!" I curse under my breath, clutching my broom handle. I stalk away from the Nurse's station and head toward the locker room. I stash my broom in the correct closet and shut the door a little harder than I meant. "What's his problem!" I grumble to myself, pulling my uniform top off.

"Jounouchi-kun?" A soft voice interrupts my hasty, choppy movements. "Are you okay?"

"Wha'? Oh, hey, Kanako." I mumble and throw the shirt into the locker. "I didn't notice ya there."

"That's okay." She smiles, sitting down on the bench. "Did you want to talk about it?" She asks brightly.

"No. Yes. Maybe, I don't know!" I sign in exasperation, plunking down next to her half dressed in my two uniforms. "What's Shini's problem? He's always such an ass!" I complain loudly.

"It's because he hates his life." She replies sweetly. "He's a miserable person." She adds on, all smiles like it's a good thing.

"So? That don't mean he can be an ass whenever he wants!" I yell throwing my hands up. "I don't get it! Quit laughin!" I shout at her.

"But I can't help it!" Her light, airy laugh echoes in the small locker room. "You're hopeless!"

"Whatever!" I snap, jumping back up. "If you're just gonna make fun of me I don't wanna hear it." I take off my pants, quickly replacing one uniform with the other. "I was having such a good day too! He just had to ruin it in the last five minutes!" I slam my locker shut, pulling my dirty trainers back on my feet. "It's like he lives to torture others!"

"Well, he sort of does." She offers, shrugging her small shoulders. "It's as though he only feels better if he makes someone else more miserable than he is."

"That sounds like a bunch of crap." I glance at her, doubting her idea.

"It's psychology." She replies wisely.

"Psycho-babble?" I stare at her skeptically. "Still sounds like crap."

"Oh, Jounouchi-kun." She rolls her eyes at me. "Sometimes I wonder if your skull really is that thick or if you have an on-and-off switch to your brain."

"Ya better not be callin' me dumb." I scowl. "I ain't dumb."

"Of course not, dear." She smiles, patting my arm. "I'm just saying that some days you think better than others."

"Still sounds like you're calling me dumb." I repeat, scratching my chin.

"Only a little and on certain days." She links one of her arms with mine and tugs me toward the doors. "If you walk me to my car I'll drop you off at home. Does that sound like it'll help make you feel better, snookums?"

"Don't mock me." I grab my bag from the bench, allowing myself to be dragged to the doors, clocking out as we pass the machine. "And of course I'll walk you to your car, but you don't have to drop me off."

"I'll do as I please." She smiles pleasantly. "And if you refuse to get in, I'll just run you down, 'kay?"

"Your sickly sweet voice is scarier than the threat." I stare at her sideways.

"I know." She giggles.

"The giggle is even creepier."

"Ooo, goodie!" She claps her hands together, jostling my arm.

"Stop that." I whine.

"Mmmm, nooooo." I sigh heavily when we reach her small black car.

"Thanks for driving me home, Kanako." I state, pulling my door open. "You really don't have to."

"It's not a problem, sweetie." She smiles at me. "You remind me a lot of my baby brother." She adds, clinging her seatbelt in.

"You have a brother?" I ask, feeling shocked.

"Hmm? A what now?" She asks, making the car back up.

"A brother?" I repeat.

"What about 'em?" She asks, turning a corner.

"You have one." I remind her.

"One what?"

"Oh forget it! You're such a weirdo." I snap, glaring out my window, watching the streetlamps go by. We sit in silence for the rest of the ride.

"Here we are." She chirps as we stop in front of my apartment complex.

"Thanks. Sorry for yelling." I mumble glaring down at my hands. "I didn't mean to call you a weirdo."

"You did so." She giggles at me. "But it's okay because I am." She smiles softly at me. "Get some sleep, kid."

"Aye aye, cap'n." I grumble, climbing out of the car. "Don't hit anyone on your way home." I advise, shutting the door before she can reply. Though I swear I could hear a cackle.

I head into the large apartment complex taking a quick peek into my mailbox. _Good, no new bills today. _I grin, climbing up the four flights of stairs.

It's been two days since I was home last. I jiggle the lock with the key and lean into the door until the lock pops open. It can be nearly impossible to get my door open some days, but it's better than my old place with the busted lock and a drunk Pops.

"Ahhh, nice to be home!" I call out slamming the door behind me and switching the lock closed again. "And only 7 hours until school starts." I hum happily, sniffing under my arms and heading to the kitchen. "Eww." I wrinkle my nose pulling the fridge open. "I need a bath." I grab the only juice box left in the fridge and head towards the tiny bathroom. "Note to self, go grocery shopping." I sigh, thinking about how little money I have after spending the afternoon with Yug.

"Oh well." I grumble, starting the bath water, relieved the water heater was working for once. _At least I won't have to boil water first._ I smile, pulling my school uniform off as quickly as I can.

_Mmmmm._ I sigh happily, sinking into the hot water. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth as it soaks through my muscles.

I'm not sure how much time I spent soaking and how much sleeping. All I can remember is getting out when the water was too cold to enjoy the bath any longer. I grabbed the only towel I own heading for my tiny room. The last memory I have is switching on my alarm clock and climbing into bed not bothering with pajamas.

* * *

**AN:**  
Thank you for the reviews, I always appreciate feedback. And a bigger thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

_What is that ticking noise? _I wonder, groaning and rolling over. "Five more minutes." I mumble, pulling my blanket over my head. Today was kind of like a day off. Kind of. I was supposed to use the day resting and studying for my exam the next day before working at the Museum tonight, but mostly all I've done is sleep.

"Fine!" I yell at my alarm clock. "I'm awake, are you happy now?" I stumble across my room and smack the large snooze button. I hate waking up in the middle of a good dream. "I was winning too." I brood and amble off to the kitchen, scratching my ass through my boxers. "If I drew my cards like that more often I'd kick that rich snob's ass every time!" I praise myself, searching through the fridge for something edible. "Old cheese, not sure what that is, empty milk carton.. Nothin'." I sigh shutting the door again. "Dammit, I swear I just went grocery shopping!"

I head back to my room rubbing my angry stomach. "Me too buddy, me too." I pat my stomach and root through my small pile of clothes trying to find something clean. "This doesn't smell _too _badly." I shrug, pulling on a plain light blue t-shirt. "Not like I got someone to impress." I grin, snatching my bag from the floor and plopping down on my bed. I shift my only pillow around until it's resting comfortably between my back and the wall. Now it was time to study for math. I hate math.

"Let's see, this, plus that, over this shape over there, and that number goes to that, and then this letter goes, er, somewhere…" I stare at the page trying to figure out what I'm looking at. "Maybe it's an elephant?" I muse to myself, drawing out the animal's form on top of all the shapes, letters, and numbers. "See?" I grin triumphantly staring at my handiwork. "An elephant!"

I'm pretty sure I spent the last hour drawing a horde of different animals I'd never see; a lion, a bear, a snake, and I'm pretty sure I managed to create a unicorn. "I'm screwed." I groan to myself, face planting into my textbook; twisting into a very strange human-pretzel. "How am I ever going to learn this?"I ask the ceiling.

Somehow I managed to spend the next few hours before I needed to get ready for work attempting to memorize formulas and numbers. And creating more animals. Before I knew it, it was time to head to work. I scramble around my small apartment, grabbing my uniforms and school bag. "Ready, set, go!" I call out, locking the door behind me and dashing off to work.

* * *

The night shift was long and boring. Because of new policies I had to fill out extra logs and read a new manual. After that I still had a few extra hours to study and look over my notes for tomorrow's exam. "Seriously, these still look like animals!" I grin, drawing a leopard. I spent most of my time memorizing animal shapes to formulas. I had to look up a few extra equations that weren't part of any homework assignments, but I really wanted a whale and a turtle.

"It's kind of like a zoo." I murmur to myself, drawing what kind of looks like a polar bear. You know, if you squint at it long enough. "Not quite enough spots to make the full bear, but I can pretend." I shrug, taking a mental note to remember a 9x^3 made up the bear's nose. "Help me out, little guy." I grin, adding some mild shading to make the bear look more three-dimensional. By the end of my shift I have 30 animals in Jounouchi's Zoo.

* * *

By the time I got to school, taken a quick nap, and arrived to class, I was beyond tired and grumpy. I wav to my friends, not saying much, grateful they're all sitting at their desk to study more for the upcoming end of the world, also known as a test.

"Good morning, class." Our teacher calls out, striding into the class room. "We will begin our day with your mathematics exam. Put everything away now except for your pencils. You will have one hour to complete your exams." She explains, passing out the tests. "This grade is worth 30% of your final grade for this class." She explains as she places an exam on my desk. "There will be no talking, moving, snacking, whining, crying or any other disruptions." She lists, continuing around the room. "If you finish early, turn over your exam and sit quietly while your peers finish their exams. You may begin."

I nervously flip over my exam, looking over all 25 questions. _Only Kaiba could finish this early._ I grumble to myself, scowling at the first question as I begin to solve it. After ten minutes of jumping from question to question trying to figure each one out, things start to look really similar.

I can't believe this! I stare down at my exam. _It looks like my zoo! _I grin, beginning to draw slight outlines of all of my animals on top of the problems, puzzling out what went where with what animal. By the end of the hour I managed to write something down for every question, hopefully earning a few points here and there.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. I can only remember the teacher rambling on about some dumb time in history and some dumb kid asking a dumb question about that dumb time in history. I also remember yawning a few times and wishing it was lunchtime already. I was starvin'! Before I knew what was happening I was caught in a living limbo, not really sure if I was awake or sleepin'.

"…and I guess that's a good enough reason, right Jou?" Anzu's voice floats into my thoughts.

"Er, sure, yeah." I mumble, blinking at my friends who were all surrounding my desk.

"Told you I could get him to agree to anything I wanted." The brunet grins. "Thanks for agreeing to do my laundry!" She sings, brushing her hair behind her shoulder.

"What!" I shout, looking at my other friends for support. "You gotta be kiddin' me!" I groan, dropping my head onto my desk. "I ain't washin' your girl clothes, Anz. You probably have cooties."

"Too late, you already agreed." She chirps back, pulling up a chair and rustling through her bag.

"Cheer up, Jou." Yugi's voice sounds to the left of me. "At least she didn't trick you into being her dance partner for next week like she did to poor Honda." I crack a grin trying to imagine Honda being anything other than ungraceful and awkward.

"That was dirty pool." Honda rumbles from my right, also pulling up a chair.

"It's not my fault the two of you space out so much during history lessons you'll agree to anything anyone asks you. Maybe that'll teach you to pay attention and learn something?"

"As if, Anz. This stuff hasn't changed in decades, and it won't change in a few more. I see no reason to learn it." Honda shoots back, dropping something on my desk and taking stuff out of it. I sniff the air, _beef!_ I lift my head up just enough to see the brown sack lying next to my head. I slowly slide my hand into the sack and take the sandwich out, carefully placing my head back onto the desk while they argu. _Heh, heh, heh. _I chuckle to myself, taking a large bite out of the sandwich.

"You should still know it!" Anzu huffs, placing something else on my desk. I glance up just enough to see a soda. _Fizz! _I grin, snaking my hand gradually across the desk, jacking the soda and sliding it under the desk with my stolen sandwich. I replace my head slowly, taking another bite out of the sandwich.

"That's not even an argument!" Honda cries, not noticing a thing.

I quickly eat the rest of the beef sandwich, sipping Anzu's soda from the pink straw she inserted into it. As soon as I finish a cookie appears in front of my eyes from my left. _Ehh? _I lift my head slightly to see Yugi smiling at me, laughter floating in his purple eyes. I grin back, taking the cookie, and putting my head back down.

"Of course it makes sense to learn this! History is important!"Anzu presses on, refusing to let go.

I put the empty sandwich wrapper back in Honda's bag as I sip the rest of Anzu's soda from the can, as quietly as I can.

"No it isn't!" Honda barks back as I slip Anzu's soda can back in front of her, quietly putting my head back down as I shove the last of the cookie into my mouth.

"Hey! Why is my soda empty!" Anzu cries out a second after I swallow.

"Haha!" Honda teases as he grabs his paper sack. "My sandwich!"

"Haha to you!" Anzu cries out, gloating.

I couldn't keep myself from snickering when I glance up and see their faces.

"Jou!" The two of them chorus, glaring at me.

"What? Ya shouldda known to keep ya food protected." I shrug at the two of them, ducking a swing from Honda.

"That ain't funny! I was looking forward to that!"Honda's chair scrapes against the ground as he leaps to his feet.

"Sorry, finhead, you shouldda spent more time eating and less time arguing!" I fall out of my chair dodging his next blow, rolling away to hide behind Yug.

"Oh no you don't! You can't hide behind Yugi!" Anzu cries, snatching for me from the other side of Yugi.

"C'mon, guys!" Yugi cries out, holding his hands spread out. "Jou's right, he's been stealin' our food for years. You two should know to keep a better eye out! Besides, I suffered the greatest casualty. He got my cookie." The small boy places a hand over his heart, feigning a sad voice. "And I say we let him go!"

I snicker quietly behind Yugi's back at his display. The little guy could be quite devilish when he wanted to be.

"Fine." Anzu agrees after what I'm pretty sure was an epic internal debate, plopping back into her seat. These guys would do anything for Yug, me included.

"I'll get you back for this." Honda gripes, plopping back into his seat.

"Thanks, Yug." I whisper, pulling my chair slightly farther away from Honda before sitting back down.

"No problem." Yugi winks, pulling a second cookie from his lunch bag and eating it before anyone could notice.

* * *

"Watch out today, Jounouchi-kun." A soft voice warns as I clock in for the day. "Shini's been awake all night and day, he's probably cranky." Kanako winks, breezing by on her way to do something important.

"Thanks." I sulk and head towards Takei's office. _Why can't Shini ever be pleasant? Just once!_ I grumble to myself, ducking underneath a nurse as she passes around strange, sterile equipment. _Where do these people come from?_ I object, dodging a small, older looking woman running past me. _How old is she? _I wonder, reaching Takei's door, knocking gently as I walk in.

"Ah, good evening, Jou-san!" Takei smiles warmly at me. "I hope you enjoyed your day off yesterday?" He asks warmly, placing his stapler back onto his desk.

"I spent most of it studying for a math exam today." I tell him, slumping into the chair on the other side of his desk.

"How did you do?" He asks, folding his hands on his desk.

"I don't know, hopefully better than last time. Most of the problems were the ones that I had studied on my own at home." I shrug, leaning backwards with the chair.

"Careful not to fall, even if we are in a hospital." He winks at me, giving me the same warning he always does. I roll my eyes, grinning.

"I'm a young adult," I explain, hooking one foot on the edge of his desk. "Don't you know we're immortal?" I grin cheekily.

"Be careful, Jou, I don't want to see anything bad happen to you." He advises me, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

"I'll try." I smile, placing the legs of my chair back on the floor. "What's on the schedule today?"

"Same old, same old, silly boy." He claps his hands together. "We've got a lot to do everywhere so you'll be on your own for the most part." I give him a quick salute as I hop out of the chair and head toward the door. "Stay out of trouble!"

"Can do, cap'n!" I call out, hurrying to the second floor.

I know that I should listen to the two warnings I've already gotten today, but I can't pass up visiting with my favorite resident patient!

"Kanse!" I whisper as I duck into room 217. "How ya been?!" I grin widely, swirling the broom on the floor, sweeping up some dust.

"Jou-kun!" The little old man grins from the bed. I can't help but grin madly back. "It's been almost a week, my boy!" He grins widely, his eyes nearly crinkling shut.

"I know, I'm sorry." I bow my head, tapping the broom against my skull. "I meant to come by sooner, but-" I shrug apologetically, bowing my head again.

"No, no, my boy, I won't have it." Kanse waves a hand at me. "I would rather you tell me how your day was than listen to you apologize for nothing!" I grin up at him sheepishly.

"Well, I got a free lunch today." I grin wickedly. "Free soda and cookie too. Only the cookie was actually for me, but those are soft details."

I can't help but smile as Kanse's small body shakes with laughter, a sign that definitely means he's recovering. "Oh my boy, tell me your friends weren't too rough with you when they found out!"

"Well, I took it right from under their noses when they were arguing. It was completely fair game. They should know better by now!" I wink at him.

"Yes, I suppose they should. And the free cookie?"

"Yug' brought me an extra one from home to save my sorry butt with some excuse about being the worse off in the end. Not sure how he planned that, but it was a really delicious cookie." I smile happily, remembering the flavor of the cookie.

"I'm happy you have such nice friends, Jou-kun." I grin with him.

"Me too." I nod my head pondering my luck in friends. "Oh! I also took a math test today," I tell him as I start to sweep around his room again. "I don't have a clue what was going on, but I've learned that if I memorize what kinds of animals the numbers and letters and shapes look like, I can sort of remember what to put down and what to write as an answer." I shrug at my crappy explanation.

"That's a very interesting way to look at mathematics, dear boy." Kanse smiles at me, pulling a pad of paper off of his bedside table. "Why don't you show me what you mean?" He smiles warmly, offering the paper.

"Of course!" I grin, taking the paper from him and leaning against his bed sketching out an elephant from my zoo. "Most of the animals I draw are animals I'll never actually see."

"Animals you'll never see?" He asks as I get to a particularly difficult area to draw.

"Yeah," I explain, concentrating on the drawing. "Exotic animals, or big animals, or really rare animals." I explain and finish the trunk, handing him the paper a second later. "I like to think of them as being from my zoo!"

"This is really excellent!" Kanse gasps staring down at my drawing. "So much detail!" I scrub my cheek fighting away a blush creeping up.

"Nah, it's just a quick drawing!" I call out, hopping off the bed and grabbing my broom again.

"You have time to draw?" An icy voice bites from the doorway. _Shit_.

"Ah, not really, sir. I was just-"

"You were just nothing, Jounouchi!" Shini snaps at me, slamming his binder closed. I'm in deep shit now.

"Honestly, I was just-" I try again, flinching at the look in his eyes.

"I don't know what you have been doing in here, Jounouchi, but you will be in Takei's office in two minutes flat if you want to have any hope of keeping this job. Understand?" He snaps at me while I grip the broom handle so hard my knuckles turn white.

"Yes, Shini-sensei." I bite out, walking stiffly to the door. I can hear Kanse-san say something behind me, but I'm too angry to understand. I stomp my way down to Takei's office in a blind rage. I was hardly even in Kanse's room! I was there for a few minutes!

"Jounouchi?" Takei asks, looking up from his paper work. "You're back so soon? You've only been gone for half an hour!" My supervisor frowns as I slump into one of his chairs.

"Shini's pissed off 'cause I was talking to Kanse-san as I cleaned his room." I explain, refusing to meet my supervisor's eyes.

"Jounouchi." Takei sighs and shifts his position. "Why did you risk getting caught by him? You know he hates everyone."

"Because it's been so long since I've seen Kanse-san. He gets lonely by himself. I try to visit often, but Shini's always in a bad mood! What did you want me to do, leave Kanse by himself?" I yell, curling my hands into tight fists.

"Jounouchi," Takei says calmly, "It's okay to care about Kanse-sama. He's a very nice man and we all enjoy speaking with him. But you need to remember that you are an employee here, not a family member. I need to ask you not to speak with him while you're supposed to be doing other duties. I'm going to have to give you an official warning."

"That's it?" I grip my hands tighter as I hear Shini's nasty voice from the doorway. "I insist he be put on probation at the very least! I stress the importance of firing such a whelp!"

I can feel my body shaking in rage as I keep my jaw clenched shut.

"Shini-sama, how nice it is to see you. Would you mind speaking with me in the hall for a moment?" Takei asks calmly, not reacting to Shini's nasty attitude.

"Fine." Shini snaps and they both exit the room.

I tug on the end of my shoelace as I wait in the office by myself. _Fuck. _I curse mentally as the situation really hits me. I need this job! I can't get fired! I can't even risk getting fired!

I stare at the clock on the wall, freaking out about my future, watching the minutes creep by as the two men debate just outside the office. I can't understand what they're saying, but by the sounds of it, things can't be good for me.

I jump slightly when the door opens again. "Jounouchi?" Takei asks while he sits back down at his desk. "I stick by the warning that I have given to you earlier. I must warn you not to upset Shini-sama again. You are an excellent employee and it would be difficult to replace you. I believe that is why I was able to argue your point in why you should stay. You're truly a great and dedicated worker. Please, don't mess up like that again. I won't be able to keep your disciplinary action between the two of us in the future if something were to happen."

"You mean, I'm not being fired?" I gape at him, my heart thumping in my chest.

"No, my boy. But you absolutely must not be caught again. I must ask you not to step foot on the second floor while you are clocked in."

"But that means that I can't see Kanse-san!" I shout as I jump out of my chair. "I can't just leave him by himself! He doesn't have anyone else!"

"Jounouchi, calm down please. You must remember where you are!" Takei cries out to me, his eyes flickering to the door. "Calm yourself. Now."

My eyes widen in understanding. "I'm sorry." I whisper, collapsing into my chair.

"That's alright, my boy." Takei sighs, wiping his brow. "I understand you better than most supervisors would, but it will not do you well in the future to take such a tone with your boss." I gulp as his words strike home. Anyone else and I would have been fired for my actions and my words. "Do you know when visiting hours begin and end, Jounouchi-san?"

It takes me a moment to register his question. "No," I blink at him, cocking my head slightly to the side, "but I can look 'em up." I frown at him. "Why?"

"There aren't very many rules governing visiting hours. While it is true that there are some rules, these rules usually do not restrict _who _may come and go. Do you understand?" I furrow my brow even more.

"Oh!" I cry out, understanding finally dawning on me. "Yes, I understand." I breathe, a smile creeping its way across my face. I could visit Kanse-sama whenever I wanted to without being worried if I came during visiting hours! _I'm so stupid!_

"Now, Jounouchi-san, you will need to come back into my office before you leave for the night for an official disciplinary meeting. There will be a form you will need to sign as well as a quick refresher on what the rules for an employee at this hospital needs to keep in mind while working here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Takei-san." I bow my head in shame. I've embarrassed Takei-san, I just know it. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Jounouchi." He sighs, standing up from behind his desk. "Please, return to work now. And remember, you will not step a toe onto the second floor unless otherwise specified to do so."

"Yes, sir." I whisper, trudging my way back out of the door. This has been the worst evening of work I've had in a long time, I just hope it doesn't get any worse.

* * *

The best part of my entire day was coming home to my empty apartment. "Man am I glad today's an off day at the museum." I stretch loudly as I kick the door closed behind me. My head was still swimming with my final reprimand of the day, a copy of my warning in my back pocket. "Well, I know the absolute best part of my day!" I sing out to my empty apartment. "I didn't hit anyone in the face today!" I dance badly into my kitchen singing a tune without a purpose, filing a glass with water. "No food, right. Learned that this morning!" I sing to myself, dancing badly back to the small living space, managing not to spill a single drop of water.

"9 hours till school, actual sleep last night, finished homework during that hour or two before work-" I stop dead, staring around my apartment. "I don't understand." I frown, panic rising in my chest. "There's nothing to do?" I whisper hurriedly. "Nothing?" I sit down on the couch, breathing deeply as I try to calm myself. "This is the weirdest day of my life!" I cry out, gripping my chest.

I nearly scream as someone pounds at my door, breaking my concentration. "Go away!" I grumble quietly to myself, glancing out the peephole. I sigh as I roll my eyes tugging the dull brown door open. "Rai?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow at my tiny neighbor. "You knocked?"

"Sugar?" The tiny teen asks, hugging himself with one arm and scratching behind his ear with the other hand. "You wouldn't happen to have?" His dark bloodshot eyes drag another sigh from my chest.

"I don't really think I have much, but let me check." I shut the door quickly running to my kitchen to search. I come up with a mostly empty container of what I'm pretty sure is sugar.

"What do you need sugar for, Rai?" I ask as the small pre-teen when I open the door again, offering him the small amount of sugar. "Sorry that's all I've got though."

"Dunno." The teen tells me, happily accepting the small offering. "Just want sugar."

I stare after him, blinking slowly as he walks away calmly as if nothing happened. I shut the door behind me, clicking the lock into place. "This is the weirdest fucking day of my life." I grumble, shuffling into my bathroom to brush my teeth. "Weirdest, worst, best, I don't know just weird!" I cry out, trying to shake the crazy out of my head. "I swear I'm not going insane." I promise my reflection, tugging on my lower eyelid to see if there were any specs of noticeable crazy dust floating around in my eye. "What the hell is wrong with me!"

* * *

AN: Thanks for stopping by! Make good choices!


	4. Chapter 4

"Jou, calm down." Yugi sighs as I bounce around in my chair.

"I can't!" I hiss back, tapping my pencil against the desk. "I know that I can't have done very well, but what if I _failed_!" I groan.

"Jou, you didn't fail. You haven't failed a math test in a long time!"

"But this one was harder than all the others!" I shake my head furiously. "This test is supposed to be the hardest test all year! I studied an' all, but I-" I wince as a wad of paper hits me in the face. "Hey!" I seethe quietly at Honda. "What was that for?"

"You're freakin' out over nothin'!" Honda rolls his eyes at me.

"Whatever." I huff, flicking the wad back at him.

"Look, Jou, it's okay." Yugi smiles at me. "Maybe she just forgot to post your grade and that's why she asked you to stay after school to talk to her?"

"We took that test last month, Yug!"

"Exactly! A lot can happen in a month, Jou!" Honda sighs, leaning back in his chair.

"Look, pal, don't make me punch you in ya ugly mug." I threaten, glaring at Honda.

"Quite, man! She's here!" He jerks his thumb towards the door.

"Fine!" I hiss, crossing my arms, waiting quietly for Hikizan-sensei to enter the room.

"Thank you for waiting after school, Jounouchi-san." I wince at the tone in her voice. "The two of you may go home now." I sigh as Yugi and Honda give me backwards glances.

"Go support Anzu." I grin at them, motioning for them to leave. "I'll be fine."

"Alright, Jou. You should come support Anzu when you're done if you can." Yugi smiles at me as he and Honda make their way to the door.

"I'll try." I smile and wave as they head towards the door.

"Jounouchi-san." Hikizan-sensei says calmly. "I think you know why you're here?" She asks, leaning against her desk at the front of the room.

"I failed, didn't I?" I ask her glumly, staring at the corner of my desk.

"Yes, Jounouchi-san, you did. Do you know why?" She asks.

"Cause I suck at math." I tell her, refusing to look up.

"No, Jounouchi-san. I failed you because Academic Dishonesty is not tolerated at Domino High." My head snaps up as I stare at her.

"_What?_" I nearly shout, staring at her as if she had gained three heads.

"Academic Dishonesty, Jounouchi." She reiterates. "Your overall score on this exam equaled out to be an 87% success rate. This is the best score you have ever received on a mathematics exam to date. Ordinarily I would just assume you spent your evening studying rather than playing video games or goofing off with your friends. However, this is the most difficult mathematics exam of the year. Your original score far succeeds that of your previous scores as well as most of your classmates. You received the third highest score in the class, and 8th in the school."

"I'm sorry, _what_?" I ask her, not understanding a single word.

"I know that you cheated, save yourself some oxygen and admit to your mistake."

"WHAT!" I yell, jumping out of my chair. "I ain't a cheater!" I yell at her, my face starting to turn red. "I ain't gotta clue how I managed to score an 87% on that damn test, but I ain't gonna admit to cheating when I didn't!"

"Do not take that tone with me, Jounouchi." Hikizan snaps at me, placing her hands on her hips. "Statistically speaking, this is an anomaly. It is highly unlikely that you were able to earn such a score on your own. Therefore the only logical explanation is Academic Dishonesty." I stare at her dumfounded.

"So 'cause you can't explain why I managed to get a good score you just assume that I'mma cheater?" I can't stop my hands from shaking as I glare at her. "I ain't admitting to something I didn't do."

"Jounouchi-san," I flinch at the tone of her voice, "You can either admit to cheating and face the consequences or you can spend the rest of the year in detention every day." I can feel the blood boiling in my veins.

"I did not cheat." I tell her again, slowly.

"Fine. You will have detention every day for one hour after school. You will receive a zero on your mathematics exam, and you will not be allowed to retake it."

"You can't do that!" I scream at her, slamming my hands onto the top of my desk. "You can't give me a zero unless I earned it!" I can feel my blood rushing inside my ears.

"You will do well to remember that I am a teacher at this school!" She screams back at me. "If I say there's no way for you to earn such a high score and that you must have cheated, then that is what is counted as right!"

"That ain't fair!" I shout at her, my heart pounding in my chest. "Who are you to say I'mma cheater!"

"If you continue to take that tone with me I will have you suspended." I can't believe this.

"So what you're saying is I ain't got a choice?" I ask, breathing with difficulty. "Because you're the teacher and I'm just a fuck up I ain't able to defend myself? What kind of bullshit is this?" I seethe, grabbing my bag off the side of the desk. "Who the hell died and put you in charge!" I yell, shoving past my desk and heading towards the door.

"Do not walk out that door, Jounouchi. You have detention!" She yells after me as I pull the door open roughly.

"I ain't got time today." I tell her icily, turning to glare at her.

"You don't get a choice in the matter." She tells me, as she leans her hands against her desk. "If you walk out that door today I will involve the principle of this school and you will receive a harsher punishment than a detention."

I close my eyes and breathe angrily, battling my internal rage as I attempt to calm down. "I honestly cannot stay today." I tell her again, shaking with fury. "And the rules of the school dictate that a parent or guardian must sign saying their kid can be kept after hours." I remind her, well aware of the detention policies of Domino High. "Write me a damn slip first." I slam the door to the room closed, breathing heavily as I walk briskly from the classroom.

I can barely contain my anger as I walk blindly away from school, heading towards the hospital. How the hell am I supposed to attend an hour of detention every day? I barely have enough time to get to work in the afternoon, let alone an extra hour to blow. "This sucks!" I shout out, kicking an empty can on the sidewalk. "Who does she think she is!" I slam my foot into the can again, sending it across the street. "And why can't things just go the way they're supposed to?" I cry out, feeling defeated.

* * *

"Jounouchi?" Takei asks me quietly as I sit down in front of his desk, feeling like the biggest failure in the world.

"Yeah?" I mumble, dropping my head into my hands.

"Is everything alright?" He asks kindly, folding his hands on top of his desk.

"Not really, no." I tell him, scrubbing my face with my hands. "I can't really talk about it though." I grumble, refusing to look up. If I told Takei that I'd been given detention, it would blow my cover. I could talk to him about school if I never mentioned I was still in high school. I could lose my job if anyone found out I was under the age of 21.

"Alright, son." He smiles kindly at me. "Are you feeling up for working on the fourth floor today?"

"Fourth?" I ask him, looking up from my hands. "I never work on the fourth floor." I frown, staring at him. "Somethin' about the patience up there needing someone who's overly quiet or some nonsense."

"Yes, that's true." Takei nods, picking a pen up off of his desk. "However, we're short staffed up there. I'll need your help this week."

I let out the air in my lungs, feeling like I'd just been punched in the gut. "Takei, I'm sorry, but I don't know that I can be reliable this week." I admit guiltily. "Something's come up that I was going to ask you about."

"What is it?" He asks, a frown tugging down his short, graying moustache.

"I need my shift pushed back an hour for the next week, and possibly again after the summer." I admit, feeling like the worst person in the world. "I have a new commitment before work everyday."

"That's fine." Takei shrugs, turning to look at the computer monitor to his right. "I'll schedule you for an hour later."

"Seriously?" My head snaps up, my jaw dropping. "You're really okay with that?"

"Jounouchi," He starts slowly, glancing at me while he types, "You're normally highly reliable. If it's only an hour difference, and you've cleared it with me, it's not going to be that big of an issue. Most of our work starts two hours into your shift anyway." He explains carefully. "If you need me to work with you I can."

My head was spinning wildly. "Are you sure?" I ask him, feeling my heart thump in my ears. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes, my boy." He smiles warmly at me. "Now, get up to the fourth floor as soon as you're ready. Ask one of the nurses what they need done. And remember, please keep your voice down. The patients up there are very fragile."

"Yes, sir." I salute him, heading out of his office. I can't believe I was able to get my shift changed. Things like that never happen for me. Usually my life goes like it did this afternoon, an unfair whirlwind of suck. "I guess it can't always suck then." I sigh, trudging up the stairs. "Then again, working on the fourth floor sucks." I grumble, climbing the stairs two at a time. "Stupid broken service elevator." I pull the door to the fourth floor open passing a small red placard reading "ICU".

"Good afternoon." I smile pleasantly to one of the nurses behind the small desk. "I was told to ask you what you needed this afternoon?"

"Yes, yes, right this way." She scowls at me, leading the way down a few hallways. "You'll need to get all of your supplies from here." She says, pointing to a plain door. "You'll need to work quickly, quietly, and above all else, you will not disturb the patients." She snaps, placing her hands on her hips. "Clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." I nod, showing I was listening. "Is there anything in specific that you need done?"

"Clean out room 401. We will be having a change of patients." She demands, walking back towards her desk.

"Yes, ma'am." I sigh, heading toward the room marked with a small red placard displaying 401. It's always creeped me out when I had to clean out rooms that a patient clearly died in. I swear you can smell their death. A creepy scent somewhere between antiseptic and blood mixed with urine. It's the most unpleasant odor in the world.

It takes me an hour to finish cleaning room 401 from top to bottom. I spend an additional two hours cleaning out room 417 and briefly cleaning different rooms that still have living patients. Fours hours into my visit on the fourth floor a co-worker I've never met before stops me as I pass him. "You can go back to the lower floors, Jounouchi. Takei sent me to take over, somethin' about your shift being over?"

"Right." I tell him, passing him the mop I was holding. "You'll need to clean the even numbered rooms between 408 and 416, but that's all I haven't gotten to yet." I tell him as a high pitched peeping noise blares from room 407 again. "And you might want to keep an eye on that room." I whisper carefully, glancing over my shoulder. "No offense or nothin', but that's the third time it's done that since I've been here." I shrug apologetically.

"It's alright," he smiles at me with warm dark brown eyes, "I understand. Get goin'." He nods his heads towards the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah." I sigh, shuffling towards the stairs. "Later." I give him a lazy wave, pushing the door to the stairs open and heading down. "Too bad today's a museum day." I grumble to myself, heading towards the locker room to change. "At least it's not tomorrow." I remind myself, as I reach the ground floor. I'm not sure I could work both jobs after my first detention with Hikizan-sensei.

I pass several nurses on my way to the locker room, attempting in vein to ignore their gossip. "There's just no way he's in for exhaustion!" I can hear one of them cry out. "They're taking him up to ICU tonight to "monitor" him. I bet they're just putting him up there so he can have peace and quite." I roll my eyes, drowning out their voices by plunging my pinky into my ear and scratching around. I don't really care who they're talking about, or what their symptoms are.

I sigh grumpily as I pull my museum uniform out of my bag. "Better get used to dashing from one place to another." I grumble out loud. _After tomorrow, every museum day is going to be only an hour apart from here to there. _I sigh heavily, leaning my head against the door to my locker. How in the hell am I going to manage this?

* * *

I slide into the front doors of the school as quietly as I can, heading towards the empty classroom on the second floor. I pick the lock easily, sliding the door shut quietly behind me. Yawning widely, I sink onto the floor behind the teacher's desk pulling my spare blanket out from the right hand side. "Good night." I whisper sleepily to the blanket as I ball it up under my head. "What a terribly boring day at work." I mumble switching my second alarm clock on and shutting my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

I had the shortest nap in history. Literally during History class. "Honestly, Jou, you can at least pretend to stay awake." Anzu huffs, jabbing me in the forehead with her pencil. "Wake up!" She calls out, jabbing me again.

"No." I tell her, pulling my jacket over my head.

"C'mon, Jou!" Honda calls out, nudging me in my other side. "Today's a great day!" He tells me happily.

"Today's a shitty day." I shoot back, nuzzling into my arm.

"You guys should let him sleep." Yugi pipes up, patting my arm softly with his hand. "He's clearly really very grumpy today. We should let our pet cat sleep occasionally. It's only natural a cat should sleep this much."

I snicker softly, remembering the conversation Yugi and I had a few months ago. "Gonna feed me too?" I mumble into my arm, my eye lids drooping closed.

"Hell no!" Honda cries out. "You already stole my sandwich a month ago!

"Unattended food automatically belongs to me." I tell him sleepily, yawning widely, losing the battle with my eyelids.

"I think that's the most advanced sentence he's ever used." Anzu says, poking me with her pencil again. "Do you just pretend to be dumb normally?"

I look up carefully from my desk to glare at her. "I ain't dumb. Now quit poking me before I bite you." I snap, resting my head on my arms again. "Wake me up when the day's over."

"Jou." Yugi sighs, patting my arm again. "Cheer up." He whispers to me. "I brought you another cookie." He places something light on my lap, apparently unnoticed by Honda and Anzu.

"Thanks," I whisper back, unwrapping the cookie and quickly popping the whole thing into my mouth.

"Let's leave him be." Yugi tells the others, getting up and walking away. "We can sit at Anzu's desk today."

"Why not mine?" I roll my eyes sleepily at Honda's whining tone.

"Because mine is best." Anzu shoots back. I sigh happily as their voices sound less loud and sleep overtakes me again.

* * *

I wake with a start to a gentle hand shaking my shoulder. "Jou!" Yugi whispers, shaking me harder. "Hikizan-sensei will be back soon. She says you have detention with her and she expects you to be awake and alert as soon as possible?"

"Right." I mumble sleepily, sitting up slowly. "I'm awake." I grumble, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Why do you have detention?" Yugi wonders aloud, frowning at me.

"Because she thinks I cheated on that math test." I tell him grumpily. "And because I didn't agree with her decision that I cheated, she failed me and gave me detention everyday for the rest of the year."

"What!" Yugi cries out, staring at me with his mouth wide open. "Can she do that?" He asks, balling his tiny hands up into fists at his sides.

"Apparently." I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Don't worry about it. I ain't agreeing with her no matter what. She can fail me all she wants, I ain't a cheater."

"Jou-" Yugi says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You can have your dad call the principle's office to tell him what's going on. Maybe get someone else involved to help prove your case?"

"It's not that important." I tell him, grinning. "I gotta win this one my way." I wink at him, feeling a familiar sense of guilt twist in my gut. I still haven't told Yugi that I moved out of my pop's apartment almost a year ago. It would be literally impossible for me to get help from my pop. He'd be too drunk to remember who I was anyway.

"You shouldn't let her treat you that way." Yugi frowns at me, crossing his arms. "You sure you don't want to tell your dad?"

"Well, he knows I've got detention." I tell Yugi, pulling a slip of notebook paper out of my bag. "Had him sign this saying I could stay after for detention and all. I just didn't want to tell him why." I shrug, waving the forged note around. "Go have fun with Honda and Anzu." I tell him, nodding my head towards the door.

"You gonna join us afterward?" He asks hopefully.

"Er, probably not." I tell him honestly, shrugging. "Pop'll probably be mad if I don't go straight home." I lie, refusing to admit I had to go work at the hospital.

"Alright." Yugi smiles sadly at me. "You and I need to get pizza again sometime soon." He tells me, determination shining in his purple orbs. "I won't take no for an answer! We've hardly hung out for months!"

"You got it." I promise him, giving him a giant grin. "I'll take all the free donations a pet Jounouchi deserves!"

"You're not a cat." Yugi laughs, grabbing his bag and heading towards the door. "Good luck in detention!" He calls out to me, heading out the door leaving me alone.

"Right." I sigh, dropping my head onto the desk. Luck is what I need all right. Good luck.

* * *

"You're late." A soft voice flutters into my ears as I swipe my employee card to clock in.

"Not." I deny, shaking my head. "I'm not scheduled to work for another 5 minutes, actually." I sigh, glancing over at Kanako.

"That's unusual." She frowns at me, tilting her head slightly. "Why?" She demands, crossing her arms. "Now we'll be on different schedules!" She cries out, stomping her foot.

"We're always on different schedules," I roll my eyes at her. "It's always been that way."

"Yes but today we would have gotten off at the same time like we do sometimes!" She replies, crossing her arms. "I can't make you get in my car if we're getting off at different times!" She cries out, her giant brown eyes shining dangerously, hopefully she doesn't cry at me again.

"You're such a weirdo." I sigh, rubbing my face with my hands.

"Fine!" She cries out, stomping away. "I'll just work an extra hour!" I blink after her, completely confused.

"_What?_" I groan, shuffling towards Takei's office, refusing to try and understand what just happened.

"Still need me on fourth?" I ask as I pop my head into my superior's office.

"Yes, please." He smiles up at me, scribbling down his signature on something.

"Got it." I tell him, trudging off towards the ICU.

Today was almost the same as yesterday. I spent most of my time cleaning out two rooms and a good portion of time cleaning general stuff. It wasn't until I reached room 401 heading to put my stuff back that the world stopped making sense. I'm not entirely sure if I put the mop down or if I dropped it, but that didn't really matter at the moment. The world just didn't make sense.

No matter how long I stared, or how many times I pinched myself, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the occupant of room 401. Because there, lying like he was already dead, was Seto Kaiba. "What the fu-" I start, listening to my heart thunder in my chest. "That bastard would never let himself be admitted to a normal hospital." I whisper to myself, just barely remembering where I was in time to scoop my mop off of the floor as the angry nurse from yesterday stomps up to me.

"What do you think you're doing!" She hisses at me, her pale blue eyes glowing with fury. "If you _dare_ disturb Kaiba-sama I'll have your ass fired so fast you won't have time to _breathe!_"

"I wasn't-" I start blinking at her with large eyes. "I just-" I try again, feeling the words fail me.

"Yes, yes, I get it. He's a massive celebrity, billionaire tycoon!" She snaps at me. "But he's here for rest, not adoring fans!" She snaps pointing behind her. Get out!" She hisses.

"I was going!" I snap back quietly, stomping off towards the cleaning supply closet. As if I'd ever be an adoring fan of that asshole! I angrily shut the door to the supply closet as two nurses creep by.

"I mean seriously! There's just no way Seto Kaiba is here!" She giggles excitedly. "I mean, have you _seen_him? He's gorgeous!"

"You're just in love with his abs." The other one hisses back. "It's his eyes that make him perfect."

I roll my eyes in disgust. These women seriously have no idea what they're talking about. "He hates people staring at him." I tell them quietly making them jump.

"You've met him?" One of them stares up at me, a look of pure adoration on her face. "Tell me, what's he like?" She breathes out, barely containing her excitement.

"Rude, grumpy, arrogant, snotty, and I can keep going." I grumble, locking the supply door.

"Oh you're probably just jealous of him." The other nurse gripes at me. "You probably shouldn't be allowed to clean his room, you'll just upset him."

"Whatever." I snap at her, crossing my arms. "No more than you will by creeping on him."

"I'm a nurse." She tells me, glaring at me. "I'm supposed to be monitoring his charts, making sure his body is recovering!"

"Recovering from what, too much time spent being an asshole!" I snap at her, digging my nails into my arms trying to calm down.

"No, he's here for exhaustion and dehydration." The other nurse retorts, rolling her eyes. "Now get out of here if all you're going to do is spread negativity around like some kind of angel of death.

"_Exhaustion!"_ I cry out, indignantly. "You have _got_to be kidding me!" I throw my hands up, stomping away from the two of them. These women clearly have no idea the type of man Kaiba is. There was no way in hell he was here for exhaustion.

I wait a few minutes on the stairs breathing deeply, thinking rapidly. For the few minutes I'd been staring at his face I'd noticed the pallor of his skin and the deep purple bags under his eyes. He looked so frail lying there. Then it clicked. "Son of a bitch!" I yell, anger burning through me. Why hadn't I noticed? For the past six months Kaiba had been acting strange. He'd lost weight, he'd started becoming angrier and angrier, less aware of his surroundings. Occasionally we'd run into each other and he wouldn't even acknowledge me! "Damnit!" I growl angrily, heading towards Takei's office.

Why hadn't I paid attention yesterday when those nurses were mumbling in the hallway? What had the one said? Something about his bloodshot eyes, I think? I turn down a hallway, avoiding several people as I swiftly walked by.

I knock roughly on my superior's door, coming to my final decision. "Takei?" I call out, as I open the door slowly. "I have a problem." I tell him, shutting the door firmly behind me. "I think a patient is lying to his doctors." I tell him coldly, crossing my arms and leaning against the back of the door. "Lying in a way that could get him killed."

"Jounouchi, the truth always comes out in a hospital." He frowns at me, folding his hands together. "If you're genuinely concerned about Kanse-san you should just ask him what's going on."

"It's not Kanse." I snap, ruffling my hair roughly. "It's Kaiba."

"What?" Takei sits up straight. "How do you know he's here?" he frowns at me.

"I'm supposed to be working on the fourth floor, remember?" I stare at him, waiting for him to remember. "He also has a pretty famous face." I add, rolling my eyes as I plop into the chair in front of Takei's desk.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." My boss frowns at me, scratching his beard. "Why are you concerned Kaiba-sama is lying?"

"Because that asshole would never admit to what's wrong with him!" I yell, slamming my fist onto the armrest of the chair. "They say he's here for exhaustion but there's no way in hell that's true!"

"Jounouchi, calm down." Takei frowns at me again. "You're acting strangely."

"No, Kaiba's acting strangely. Who the hell does he think he is? Lying to medical personnel!" I throw my hands into the air. "I'm not even medically trained and I can clearly see he's overdosed!"

"Jounouchi!" Takei yells at me, standing up quickly. "You will not make such accusations lightly! It is a known fact that he is being treated for exhaustion and dehydration!"

"Treated for exhaustion! You want me to believe that?" I roar in Takei's face. "There's no way the great Kaiba would be in the hospital for exhaustion! The man's addicted to drugs! I can see it in his face!"

"Jounouchi! Calm down!" Takei shouts back. "It's none of your business in the first place! You will keep your mouth shut, you hear me? If anyone finds out you've either looked at his chart or blood work to come to this conclusion you'll be arrested."

"I didn't read his chart, I overheard the nurses talking about it. Even some of them suspect it's something else. I heard them talking about it yesterday! I guarantee you he's addicted to drugs."

"Even if he were, that's none of your business nor mine. You will give that man rest and you will back down. Now. I will not have you fired on my watch, you hear me?"

Takei-sama has never taken that tone with me before. I don't know what to do. I'm panicking. "I'm leaving."

"Jou!" He calls after me, but I've already started running.

I run blindly without seeing, hearing, or paying attention to where I'm going. I could tell it was dark and cold, but not where I was. Kaiba was my rock, my inspiration. Ass or not he was what I looked up to, pure determination in its greatest form. Pure, cold, and hard determination to be the best. Someone who would never need to resort to this. Someone who could do anything because it was what he willed it would happen, not someone who was addicted to drugs.

I spent hours alternating between walking and running. I went back to work sometime around one in the morning to grab my stuff. I didn't bother to clock out, knowing Takei would probably fix the system for me, assuming I hadn't already been fired.

I walk home shortly after leaving the hospital, my limbs shaking.

It takes me twice as long to get my door open as it usually does. I slam my shoulder into the gray painted wood a third time before the door finally pops open. I throw my bag onto the floor next to the door, slamming the door shut behind me. I sink to the floor, my hand still on the knob.

You know that moment in life when you feel like everyone and everything is made out of the color orange? Yeah, me too. That's how I feel right now; orange.

* * *

"That'll be 500 yen, please." The pleasant voice calls out. I peek from behind my hiding spot to watch Kaiba as he hands some cash over to the woman in exchange for a cup of what I'm assuming is coffee. _Who spends that much on coffee? _I scoff, carefully watching Kaiba closely. "Have a good day, sir!" The woman calls cheerfully out to him. Kaiba doesn't even look back.

"Ass." I grumble under my breath, waiting a few minutes for Kaiba to disappear. Following Seto Kaiba is a lot easier than you'd think. I'd been following him for almost an hour now. For reasons I can't figure out, the man walks everywhere. He _walks!_ The man has more money than any deity imaginable, and he walks. Not only does he walk, he does so by himself. No guards, no anyone. It's like he doesn't give a shit.

_C'mon, asshole! Get a move on!_I yell at him inside my head. I only had an hour before work and I wanted to catch him doing at least one shady thing!

I'd been following Kaiba for about three weeks now. I followed him whenever I could, watching. I watched him in class before we got out for summer vacation. I watched him during lunch, during tests. I watched him so often even Honda noticed.

_"What the hell are you doing?" Honda's voice snapped in my hear._

_"Waiting for him to do something." I bite back, grumpily stirring Anzu's soda with her pink straw. "C'mon, _do_something!" I hiss quietly, never taking my eyes off of Kaiba's rigid back._

"What!" Honda hissed, staring between Kaiba and me. "Are you insane?"

"He's up to something." I explained, sipping some of the green Fizz. "And I'm going to figure out what."

"Jou, man, I think you've gone insane." Honda whispered to me, looking up suddenly. "Oh, hey Anz."

"Is that my soda!" Anzu's shrill voice called in my ear. I jumped looking quickly away from Kaiba to see Anzu's angry, bright blue eyes.

"Err." I replied, scratching the back of head.

"You stole my Fizz

again!_" She shrieked, snatching the green can from under my hand._

"No?" I tried, shrugging. "I was testing it." I lied quickly, grinning up at her.

"Whatever!" She snapped, stomping away.

"Women." I huffed and turned back to watch Kaiba. "Damn it!" I cursed, staring at the spot where Kaiba had been sitting a few moments before, glancing quickly at the door. How does that bastard move so quickly?

I sigh, ruffling my hair, watching Kaiba turn down an off street, giving me just enough time to leap from my hiding spot to follow him.

"Hey!" The cashier cries as I run from the door.

"Sorry, changed my mind!" I call back to her, bolting down the sidewalk. Following Kaiba was the best workout in the world. Wait for him to disappear, and then run after him. Simple as that. Run full out at sudden intervals in the middle of July. Simple.

Yeah, okay, I'm full of shit. But I'm going to find proof that bastard is on drugs, even if I half die from trying.

* * *

Five weeks. It's been five weeks since I saw Kaiba in the hospital and I haven't found a damn thing. "What am I even doing?" I sigh, lying back in the grass, staring up through the trees. I've been following that asshole for four weeks and I haven't managed to find a damn thing. How hard does a guy have to work before he can prove something as obvious as a drug addiction? Sure it's not like he's going to shoot up in the middle of the street or anything, but the least he could do is meet up with some shady characters to make a drug trade!

I've been following him all morning, wasting my only morning off all summer following him around. _This is hopeless._I internally sigh. I just wasted my entire morning, and for what? I had to work in three hours and the only thing I'd been able to discover was that Kaiba occasionally scratched his right ear, almost as if out of irritation.

"What do you think you're doing?" A cold voice interrupts my thoughts, a large shadow blocking the sun from my face.

"Lying in the grass staring up through the trees." I reply, rolling my eyes. _Well shit._

"Stalking is against the law." The cold voice snaps, making me wince slightly.

"Nah, that's crazy talk." I grin, turning my head to look at the tall, shadow of a man. "Who'd wanna stalk you anyway?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.

"Listen, mutt, I've known you for years. I know the kind of imbecile you are. I don't know what you think you're going to find, but there isn't anything to see."

"You're right. From this angle all I see is a dark, shadowy blob." I nod my head, playing as dumb as I possibly can.

A deep sigh escapes the shadow-shrouded man. "You're really starting to get on my nerves." He tells me, his voice slightly lower than usual.

"And you're getting on mine." I tell him honestly, plucking a blade of grass from the ground. "I've got an idea." I tell him, fiddling with the blade of grass in my hands. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"You've finally gone insane, haven't you?" He asks me, shifting out of the path of the sun and sitting down next to me.

"You just-" I start, staring up to look at his face. "And are still, but not, and, wait, what?" I ask him, still staring.

"I felt like sitting." He snaps at me, plucking the blade of grass from my hands and tossing it aside. "That noise is irritating me."

"That was my grass." I grumble at him, crossing my arms across my chest. "I was playing with it."

"You were shredding it to pieces, that's hardly playing." Kaiba snaps at me, pulling a silver object from his pocket and pushing some keys.

Without thinking I reach over and snatch the phone from his hands. "And that noise is irritating me." I tell him chucking the phone slightly in front of him.

"I will hit you in the face." He warns, glaring down at me.

"I'll hit you back." I huff, plucking a new blade of grass from the ground. "You'd deserve it too." I grumble, shredding the blade of grass between my fingers.

"Why are you following me?" He asks softly a minute later. "Do you enjoy ruining my day? _Every_day?"

"You noticed?" I ask, too confused to deny it.

"You're kidding, right?" He asks, turning to look down at me. "Please tell me you're kidding?"

"Err, yes?" I ask, shrugging my shoulders awkwardly grinning at him with a look I hope is pure innocence.

"You're an idiot." He sighs, rubbing his face.

"Not." I argue, throwing the pieces of the shredded grass to my side.

"Are." He confirms, grabbing his phone from the grass. "Try leaving me alone, will you?" He asks again softly, clicking the keys again.

"I was here first!" I huff loudly.

"I meant outside of this exact moment in time." He snaps at me, his dark blue eyes flashing.

"And I like strolling around randomly for no reason!" I snap back, pulling a new blade of grass from the ground.

"Why are you so impossible?" He hisses, shifting slightly.

"Why are you so, well, you?" I argue back, failing to come up with something better.

"Because that made sense." He bites back, his voice swimming in sarcasm.

"Made lots of sense. So much sense it filled a wishing well."

"Please tell me you didn't make that pun on purpose."

"I do what I want." I tell him, I feel like a six year old again. "Oh!" I cry out, a second later. "I just realized something!" I turn to stare at him, sitting up, my thinking face on. "You're not in your office!"

His straight, cold stare makes me shift uncomfortably, wishing I was anywhere but in the path of that sudden stare. "You seriously have to be kidding." He asks, slowly. "Are you really _that_stupid?" I can hear the hint of disbelief in his tone.

"No, I already noticed." I roll my eyes, looking away from his icy stare. "It's not the fact that you're not in your office, it's the fact that _you're not in your office."_I tell him, throwing my hands out. "See? Seeee?" I ask, motioning to him with my hands.

"You have five seconds to either stop being such a complete moron or just shut up before I make you. Permanently." He threatens, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"No no, you don't get it." I huff, motioning to him again. "It's the middle of the day and you're out wandering around. You've actually been wandering around all summer and it's weird." I ramble talking with my hands. "I didn't realize just how weird that was until just now." I look at him, waiting for the spark of recognition on his face. "Don't you realize how weird that is?" I ask him triumphantly.

"No." He tells me through his jaw, clearly fighting not to say something else.

"Right." I sigh, rubbing the back of my head. "I guess you wouldn't." I admit. "But the point is, _why?"_I ask holding my hands up as if waiting for the answer to fall from the sky and land on my palms.

"You just now realized, after following me for weeks, that I've been outside the office?" He asks me very slowly, one of his eyebrows disappearing behind his bangs.

"Err, yeah." I admit, shifting under his piercing gaze. "I mean, I noticed we were outside, but I didn't realize how weird it was. Not that it's any weirder than this moment right now, but it's just, well, er, I'll shut up now." I sigh, falling back over to lay down again.

"You are seriously the biggest idiot I've ever met in my life." I wince at the tone in his voice, refusing to look over at him.

"Am not." I grumble, tugging on several blades of grass at once without pulling them out of the ground. "I'm pretty sure you've met Otogi. He's a bigger idiot than I am." I grumble. "Probably a bigger ass than you are too." I say before I can stop myself.

"You know, life would be easier if you'd just ask me to hit you in the face from the start." He snaps, his words making me flinch.

"What?" I ask, shrugging my shoulders. "You _are _an ass. It's a well known fact!"

"When you go missing and your little nerd herd comes crying to me to ask me to help find you, I'm going to know where you are. Know why?" He asks, and I shake my head. "Because I'm going to be the one who buried you in a shallow grave in my back yard!" He yells at me, throwing a stick at my head.

"Ow!" I cry out, holding my head. "What was that for?" I snap, turning to glare at him.

"Fetch." He tells me, his usual cocky smirk on his face.

"You!" I cry out, balling my hands into fists. "Why don't you go away!" I yell at him, tossing the stick back. I have to admit I was highly surprised when he caught it easily, but I'd never tell him that.

"Good dog." He says back, still smirking. "Good return." He says in a sickly sweet voice.

"That's just creepy." I growl at him.

"Not as creepy as you stalking me." He shoots back, his smirk falling from his face. "Now riddle me this." He asks pulling one knee up to rest against it. "Yellow or green?" He asks with a completely straight face.

"No!" I snap before I realize what he'd asked. "Wait, what?" I stare at him, my mouth falling open.

"Just answer the question, dumbass. It's not that hard."

"Green." I roll my eyes, picking a color at random.

"Yellow it is then." He tells me, turning back to his phone.

"If you were going to pick the opposite of what I said, why'd you even ask!" I cry out, throwing blades of grass at him.

"I couldn't decide between the two. So, I picked the one you didn't since it will clearly be the better option."

"You're impossible." I tell him through clenched teeth. "If you're going to be this annoying at least tell me why you're not in your office!"

"I think better when I'm walking." He tells me, without even looking up from his phone. "I like the noise, the heat, even the annoying honks from cars as they're stuck in traffic. It helps me clear my mind."

I blink, staring at him. He just answered my question, without even pausing.

"If you had to choose between steak and salmon, which one would you choose?" He asks me, still clicking away at the keys on his phone.

I think for a second before choosing the opposite of what I normally would. "Steak." I tell him, tugging at the grass again.

"Steak it is then." He nods, shifting again.

"Ha!" I call out, turning my head just enough to mock him. "You picked what I said!" I grin triumphantly.

"Because it's the opposite of what you'd normally choose." He tells me, a calm look on his face. "You'd want to beat me at my own game, so you'd obviously choose the opposite of your normal choice trying to make me pick what you would." My triumphant smirk turns into a scowl as I grumble words that are less than polite. "I heard that." He comments drily, hitting a final key before looking at me with cold, blue eyes.

"Did not." I shoot back, lying back to pout. How the hell could hear that? What was he, super human?

"I raised my younger brother, you think I don't know the tricks of children?" He asks me, I swear I can hear amusement in his voice.

"No." I tell him, clearly sulking.

"So you admit to being a child." He asks, I can feel his smug expression, let alone hear it.

"Shut ch'yo mouth." I sigh, rubbing my face.

"Mm, no." He replies, as the clicking noise starts up again.

We spent another two hours trading insults back and forth. It's weird, but I think I actually had fun. It was almost like we were hanging out. We'd take turns asking the weirdest questions, some I'm pretty sure didn't even make sense or have a purpose. Finally, at the end of two hours Kaiba stood, a strange expression on his face.

"I need to get back to work." He sighs, clenching his hands several times. _Yeah work, I'll bet. You're twitching! _

"Yeah, right." I agree with him, checking my watch. _Damn it!_I curse to myself, realizing I too needed to head to work. I may have had the morning off, but I certainly didn't have the evening off. A frown graced my features as I realized I wouldn't be able to follow him! He was most likely about to go snort something or pop some pills, and I needed to go clean bed pans and patient rooms.

"If I catch you following me again, I will hurt you." He threatens me, as he walks away.

"Don't threaten me!" I yell after him, standing up and brushing grass from my back.

"Don't tell me what to do." He shoots back, without turning around.

* * *

AN: Thank you for reading! I'm not sure how this chapter ended up being twice as long as any of the others, but it was also unplanned and spontaneous! I just kind of felt like it. (: Hope you had a lovely day

P.S. So, for some reason I'll never understand, always manages to do weird things when I try to update. Even weirder is the fact that no matter how many times I edit a saved word file, the edits I make after re-reading my work never manage to stay saved! It's one of the most annoying things. So, you'll have to forgive me for all the emails you've received on this chapter! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

"I thought I told you not to stalk me." I wince at the threat in his tone. Maybe following Kaiba today was a bad idea after all.

"Oh, hey, Kaiba. Didn't see you there." I call out, plucking a leaf from the tree I'd chosen to hide in.

"Why?" He asks me, stretching the blue piece of paper in his hands out farther.

"Why?" I echo, cocking my head to the side.

"Why do you insist on pretending to be more stupid than you already are? I can _see _you!" He snaps at me, shaking the paper slightly.

"Can't." I argue, holding the leaf in front of my face. "Invisible."

He sighs, and I'm pretty sure I can hear him mentally counting to five. "Even if I couldn't see you, dumbass, I can certainly hear you."

"Ahh, we meet again, logic, we meet again." I nod my head, hanging upside down from the tree to get a better look at the paper in his hands. "What's that?" I ask, my hair falling awkwardly about my head.

"Oh look, a stupid monkey asking for a banana." He mocks, turning a giant blue page like a newspaper.

"Do you have a banana?" I challenge, spitting the words out with as much venom as I can muster.

"Only if you beg for it." I let out an angry breath trying hard to remember that if I leapt out of the tree to hit him in the face I'd probably break a bone or two. "Get down here." I startle slightly at his sudden command, and blink a few times.

"What?" I ask him, frowning in confusion.

"Oh monkey, are you really that poorly trained?" He mocks, turning slightly to look up at me with one deep blue eye partially hidden behind his hair and shadows.

"Kaiba!" I yell at him, swinging my upper body back up the branch. "I swear I'll kill you one day!" I launch an empty birds nest at his head, cursing slightly when he swats the nest away without even looking. "How did you _do_that!" I snap, climbing down from the tree in order to hit him properly.

"It's called being skilled." I can practically see his ego draped over his shoulders like a cape. What would you call him anyway? Super Asshole?

"Are you always this full of yourself or just on special occasions?" I huff, dropping to the ground, steadying myself against the trunk of the tree.

"Everyday you see me is a special occasion." He tells me, motioning for me to come closer with his head. "Hold that side." He orders, holding a side of the blue paper out to me.

"Fine." I snap, grabbing the paper a lot more gently than my voice let on. I may not be happy with him, but I certainly don't want his fist in my teeth. "What is it?" I ask, with a bored tone.

"Blue prints?" He asks, looking at me like I couldn't possibly be that stupid.

"No, really?" I snap, flicking him in the head with my free hand. "Blue prints of what?" I ask, not even bothering to dodge his hand as he flicks me back. Sometimes I swear the two of us never grew up. "You're not going to be building something here, right?" I ask suspiciously, looking around at all the small buildings in front of us, and the small park behind.

All I get is a sigh in response as he shakes his head at me, looking over all the lines on the page. "Honestly." He sighs again, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"What?" I snap, ruffling my hair.

"Did you even look at it?" He asks me, glancing at me from the side of his eye.

"No?" I admit, finally looking at the strange round device drawn on the page. "Err, what is it?" I ask cocking my head to the side.

"It's a headset." He explains, snatching the corner I'd been holding from my left hand and rolling the pages up.

"Oh." I say stupidly, kicking a small pebble with my foot.

"Yeah, oh." He slides the blue pages into a white tube I hadn't noticed was lying at his feet.

"I wasn't creeping that hard." I huff, throwing my hands up and stomping away from him.

"Clearly." Was my only reply. "This way." He tells me, turning the opposite of the way I was already trudging.

"What?" I ask him, glancing over my shoulder to watch his retreating back.

"Come this way." He tells me, not even looking back. "We're getting coffee."

"_We_?" I ask, slightly in shock.

"You want to keep stalking me?" He asks, his voice beginning to fade, barely audible as I realize I wasn't following him.

_Crap._ I grumble to myself quickly walking after him, catching up in time to hear what he was saying.

"Because if you do, I'll need coffee before I kill you and any bystanders." He says darkly, leading the way back towards the only coffee shop he seems to use.

"Why do you go to 'The Beean'?" I ask him, finally catching up to his stride.

"Bob." He replies, glancing down to check his watch and pulling his silver phone from his pocket, hitting some keys seemingly at random.

"_Huh!_" I ask, imagining a large, strapping American man and Kaiba talking it up.

"Yes, Bob." He repeats, giving me a side-glance, a strange smile playing on his lips. "Hurry up and we might see a wild Bob still there, it's a rare species of humanity."

"You get weirder and weirder every time you open your mouth." I tell him, following him as we reach the street "The Beean" is on. "Why are there two "e"'s?" I ask, staring at the western style letters. "I thought bean was spelled with just one?"

"You remember something from English class?" He asks me, giving me a look that clearly stated he was slightly shocked.

"Sometimes!" I snap, pulling the door to the shop open and stomping in angrily, not bothering to hand him the door in some weird attempt at being impolite.

"Oh calm down, monkey." He snaps at me, rolling his eyes. "You'd have to ask Bob why." He shrugs, walking over to the side counter rather than the front.

"Ask Bob what?" A short woman behind the counter asks him as she meets him there, her dark brown bangs falling above bright blue eyes.

"Why there are two "e's" on the sign." Kaiba tells her, shrugging his shoulders softly as she hands him a random cup from behind the counter.

"Why not?" She asks me, quirking the most perfect eyebrow I've ever seen. She must do them everyday. Some women were insane. _Cute though_, I murmur internally to myself.

"What?" I ask her, frowning. "That doesn't' make sense."

"Neither does your face." She tells me, holding her hands out as she shrugs. "But you don't' see me asking weird questions, now do you?"

"What about my face?" I snap at her, scowling. "Not as weird as your face." I shoot back, crossing my arms.

"Rude." She tells me, turning back to Kaiba. "C'mon then, guess." She tells him pointing to his coffee.

"Cinnamon and hazelnut? Really?" He asks her, twisting his facial expression. "This is just terrible." He sighs, rolling his eyes at her.

"Yeah, innit though?" She smiles at him, giving him a thumbs up. "Oh, you forgot about the peppermint."

I stare at them, a funny look clearly on my face. "You made a nasty cup of coffee on purpose?" I ask her slowly, not understanding.

"Yeah." She shrugs, grinning. "He deserves it." She nods, pulling a second cup from behind the counter and taking the other out of Kaiba's hand. "Try that instead." She tells him, disappearing behind the giant machine on the counter top for a few seconds before reappearing a moment later.

"Better." Kaiba sighs, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "Coconut?" He asks, lifting a brow at her.

"S'my favorite." She shrugs, pulling a third cup from behind the counter and holding it out to me. "Drink. Now." She commands me, rolling her eyes at my expression. "It's good, I promise. Free too." She adds, softening my expression a little before she adds "First one's always free," with a slightly creepy smile.

"Sure it's good." I frown, skeptically, accepting the cup from her hand. I sniff the lid carefully, my brow furrowing not recognizing the scent. "What is it?" I ask again, still sniffing.

"If you don't take a swig from that cup of coffee right now, I'll come over there and pour it down your throat after I kick your ass." I glance up quickly, staring at her with my mouth open. She sounded just like Kaiba. Only with a girl's voice.

"Oh dear Kami, there's _two_of you?" I ask, staring at him in horror.

"What?" He asks, looking at me like I was stupid again.

"Her!" I cry out, pointing at the brown haired woman. "The one with the pretty face and mean expression!" I practically sob, nursing the cub of strange smelling coffee in my hands.

"D'aww, he said I'm pretty." She says with the weirdest accent possible.

"Don't you dare." Kaiba says as I look up to catch him glaring at her.

"I was only going to mock him." She tells Kaiba, a pretty smile tugging at her pink lips.

"And probably make him cry." Kaiba sighs, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, Bob, you're 5'5" of pure evil, and I do not want a blubbering buffoon following me all afternoon." He tells her, taking another sip from his cup of coffee.

"Wait, you're Bob?" I ask pointing at her rudely, staring. "But you're a girl!"

"Someone's observant." She says, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I've got tits." She says, poking herself in the chest. "Nice of you to notice."

"No!" I snap, rolling my eyes. "Your name, it's a boy's name." I tell her, remembering very clearly Bob was a popular male name in English.

"So?" She says, giving me the same expression Kaiba gives me when I say something particularly stupid.

"I give up." I sigh, sniffing the strange coffee again.

"Drink." Kaiba orders, his lip twitching as he clearly fights a smile. "She really can, and probably will, make you cry otherwise." He warns me, handing the small woman his credit card.

"D'aww, thanks honey." Bob winks at him, skipping away.

"Use your own card to buy whatever it is!" He yells back at her as he cocks his head towards a booth.

"She has more money than anyone I've ever met and she runs a small coffee house in Japan." Kaiba tells me, shaking his head in amusement. "And, she really _does_use my credit card to buy herself random presents."

"You just let her?" I stare at him, my mouth open in shock.

"She's my top investor." He shrugs, popping the lid off of his cup of coffee and inserting a straw. "She's strange, but she has a lot of power in the business world."

I stare at him for a minute, rethinking everything about the woman I'd just met. "She's a genius, isn't she?" I ask, admitting defeat after a few minutes.

"Probably the smartest person alive." Kaiba agrees with me, stirring his coffee. "Don't ever underestimate her." He warns me, pointing to my coffee again.

I frown, lifting the cup to my lips, gently sipping the hot liquid. "Ohhh." I say, finally understanding. "That's why you pay 600 yen for this crap." I tell him, taking another drink.

"Seriously?" He asks me, giving me a funny look.

"What?" I ask, shrugging. "I should be an international super spy, I agree."

"Stop talking." He commands, holding his hand out suddenly as Bob appears out of nowhere, giving him back his credit card.

"C'est bien, non?" She asks me, pointing to the cup I was drinking out of.

"Perfect." I admit, meeting her cold blue eyes, realizing she could probably kill me and no one would ever know. It's a strange thought I know, but you can't see the way she smiles with her eyes so, well, _frozen. _And creepy, don't forget creepy.

"Mm, thought so." She tells me, skipping away merrily.

"I told you she was scary." Kaiba tells me, putting his card back into his wallet.

"She scares _you_?" I ask in shock.

"Yes." He answers, picking his cup up and taking what looks like a happy drink from it.

"I didn't even know you could get scared." I tell him, glancing out the window, watching the traffic go by.

"Most doesn't scare me." He agrees with me softly. "But knowing that she could probably permanently ruin my life in a matter of days, and probably laugh about it, keeps me on my toes."

"She could ruin your life?" I ask him, looking back at him.

"Top investor, remember?" He asks me, quirking an eyebrow. "She owns as much stock in Kaiba Corp. as I do, probably more: same with all the other major companies in the world, including but not limited to, Azure Industries, Otori Medical Company, Industrial Illusions, and Takishima Corporation. She is quite possibly the most powerful person in the world." He says softly, fiddling with the lid of his coffee cup. "And yet she works here." He laughs softly, shaking his head.

"Why?" I ask him, frowning.

"She told me once, but I can't remember." He admits, looking up to smile at me. "I didn't take her seriously at the time, believing that everything she said was a lie. That was until I walked into an investors meeting and she was sitting cross-legged without shoes on and doodling with crayons in a coloring book, completely ignoring Saou Karn and telling Pegasus to draw her a card that looked just like the face she pulled a second later. To be honest, I'm pretty sure Pegasus did draw a card based on that expression." Kaiba said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Wow." Is all I can manage, as I glance to my right to watch as Bob greeted a new customer, grinning brightly at them. "Is it human?" I ask under my breath.

"Probably not." Kaiba agrees with me, popping his lid back on his coffee. "Let's go." He says again, standing to leave.

I obey without even thinking about it.

* * *

Later that evening, or morning really, I quietly unlocked my door, slipped inside and slammed all the locks in place. I couldn't shake the feeling of the willies. "Man, I ain't met someone that creepy since Duelist Kingdom. I grumble, heading towards the kitchen with the bag of groceries I'd bought after work at the 24hour convenience store. The food wasn't much, but it would keep me from starving.

I couldn't help but tug all of my curtains closed, convinced that if I didn't, I'd see Bob's pretty face, watching me. Her cold, distant blue eyes marking the spot on my body she'd kill me from. "I bet she'd so something weird too." I grumble, tugging on my hair slightly. "Like death by ankle attack." I sigh, flicking the bathroom light on, starting the shower.

I promised Yugi I'd be over at his house bright and early in the morning to help out with the shop. There was a new release by Pegasus's company coming up soon and Yugi said he and gramps needed the help. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd probably be really tired.

But, this was Yugi. I'd give Yugi my last kidney if he needed it. I stepped under the icy jets of water, shivering slightly as the water creeped down my spine. Today was clearly not a day the water heater was going to work. I showered faster than I can remember in my life, jumping out as soon as the last of the shampoo was out of my hair. Shivering, I snatch my towel from the edge of the sink and wrapping it around my waist.

I didn't bother with clothes, not really feeling like it. It was 31 degrees outside and it was only 7:12 in the morning. Today was going to be seriously hot. I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. "Here's to another sleepless night." I grumble to myself, waddling to the kitchen to grab one of the bagels I'd bought only a few hours ago.

I spent another 10 minutes wandering around my tiny apartment for no reason before I finally grew a pair of testicles and got dressed. "Yugi needs you, man!" I scold myself, tugging on a pair of man-undies, shorts and my favorite light blue and white t-shirt. I dash out my door heading straight for Kame game shop.

"Good morning, Jou!" Gramps greets me as I stroll into the shop another 20 minutes later. The best part about my new apartment is I live much closer to Yug', even if no one else knows it.

"Hey, Gramps!" I greet, hopping onto one of the stools in the shop, yawning widely.

"Jou!" Yugi cries from the doorway, his tiny face full of excitement. "You made it! And early too!" He adds, a look of wonder on his face. "Do you have ice cream at home?" He asks, coming over to sit on the stool next to me.

"Ha ha, smart ass." I tell him, sticking my tongue out at him. "I just happened to get up the first time my alarm went off." I tell him, while technically telling the truth, I really did wake up yesterday to my alarm on the first round.

"There's a first for everything, I guess." Gramps says, a small smile on his face.

"Ahh, it's pick on Jounouchi day." I sigh setting my face on top of the class case only to have my ear swatted a second later. "Owww." I grumble, sitting up to rub my face.

"I just cleaned that." Gramps huffed at me, giving me his best mock-glare as he re-cleaned the glass.

"Sorry." I mumble, shrugging with a grin.

I look over at Yugi as he just laughs at me. "C'mon, Jou. There's some chocolate milk for you in the kitchen." He smiles at me, leading the way into the house. "And since we open in half an hour, I think you can use the sugar. You look like death." He tells me, making me wince out of guilt. He still doesn't know about my life. What a terrible best friend I am.

"Thanks, Yug'." I smile warmly at him, heading straight for the fridge. Any other house and I'd have let my friend get the beverage for me. But this was Yugi's house. Kind of like my second home, even if it had been a while since I'd been there. "Something's different." I comment, glancing around the room as I carry the glass of already made chocolate milk with me to the kitchen table.

"The room's yellow." Yugi tells me, smiling. "We painted last month."

"Ah." I say, realizing it really must have been a long time.

"Thanks, Jou." Yugi smiles at me, his purple eyes full of warmth. It was weird, seeing eyes that weren't cold. Lately all I've seen were Dr. D's, Kaiba's, and the incredibly creepy cold eyes of Bob.

"What?" I ask him, mock hurt written on my face. "You don't think I wouldn't be here anyway? I'd camp out!" I tell him, leaning my elbows on the table. "Don't you know there are people crawling all over themselves to be at your service?" I wink at him, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Jou." Yugi smiles at me, shaking his head.

"I'm just sayin'." I tell him, taking a drink of my chocolate milk. "This shit really is my favorite." I smile at him, wincing as something hits me in the back of the head. "Ow!" I cry out, rubbing my head.

"Watch your language." Gramps tells me, waving a newspaper in my face. "You're supposed to be a grown up soon."

"Okay, okay!" I run towards Yugi, ducking behind him the best I can. "Help!" I whisper, hiding my face in his collar.

"There, there, Jou." He tells me, patting my head with his free hand. "Bad Grampa, bad!" He says, shaking his hand in Gramp's direction.

"Yugi, he's a hooligan! It is our duty to society to train him!" Gramps calls out, running at us with his newspaper.

"Ahh!" Yugi and I call out together, scattering in opposite directions, fleeing to the safety of the shop. I hide behind one of the counters as Yugi hides behind a different one.

"That's what I thought!" Gramps calls out from their apartment attached to the shop. Yugi and I just snigger in response.

"I'm pretty sure we're too old for that." I grin at Yugi through the glass panel of the display case.

"Definitely." He agrees, shooting me a thumbs-up. "But it's still just as funny."

"Fact." I grin at him, straightening up, dusting myself off. "What's on the list for the day?" I ask, hopping onto an available bar stool.

"We sell stuff." He replies, with an absolutely straight face.

"Wise ass." I grin, grabbing one of the new packs of cards from the box behind the counter. "Anything good in these?" I ask him, tugging the wrapper off.

"I heard that!" Gramps calls from upstairs as Yugi opens his own back. Our eyes flicker to the stairs and back to one another, barely containing our sniggers.

"I dunno." Yugi tells me, flipping through the cards he'd opened. "Theis seems kind of cool." He shows me a trap card, apparently with the ability to mimic a previously played monster's special ability as long as it was in the graveyard.

"I'll say." I tell him, looking through my cards. "This one's funny looking." I show him a random monster card. "Honestly, where does Pegasus come up with this stuff?"

"You know," Yugi says thoughtfully, "I don't think I want to know." He says.

"Huh." I think about it too, imagining all the weird things Pegasus has come up with in the past. "Good call."

"There's only so much the ancient Egyptians actually dealt with." Yugi adds, tucking the cards away on a shelf behind the cabinet. "And anything left over is from Pegasus's insane brain."

"Right." I wince, placing the cards I'd opened on a shelf behind me. We could set them up in the display case to see individually later.

We only had 10 minutes before the shop opened and there was surprisingly enough a line outside. "What's with these hordes?" I ask, scratching behind my ear. "It's like they're about to see a celebrity or somethin'." I grumble.

"Jou." Yugi looks at me like I've suddenly been replaced by someone he's never met before. "We kind of _are_celebrities?"

"Ooh yeaah." I say, shrugging guiltily. "I forgot."

"You forgot?" Yugi asks, his expression a mix between disbelief and pure amusement. "You love being famous."

"Yeah, but I haven't had any hero worship lately." I grin at him.

"Right." He smiles, his giant eyes swimming with laughter.

"Bring on the runts!" I cry out, striking an 'I'm ready!' pose.

Yugi and I worked all day, stopping shortly around lunch time, the same time the hordes began to slow. We spent an hour or so relaxing on the couch, munching on sandwiches and chips. It'd been so long since I stuck my sweaty, stinky socks on the living room table that I forgot how great it was to just pretend to die a little after working a morning in the shop.

Shortly after our break, I went back with Yugi and grandpa to work more in the shop. I greeted, waved, sold, and even gave out a lot of advice on how to duel. I'd like to say I kept it modest, but there's no harm in being honest either, if you know what I mean!

By the end of the day, or rather the end of the time that I could stay and help, I was really wishing I didn't have to be at the hospital in an hour.

"You sure you don't want to stay for pizza, Jou?" Gramps asks, frowning at me.

"Can't, Gramps." I tell him, giving him a giant bear hug. "Gotta get home. Pops needs my help with something, I guess." I tell him, shrugging.

"Right now?" Yugi asks, a slight pout on his rosy cheeks.

"Yeah, I guess." I say, shrugging it off. "Sorry." I say guiltily, sweeping the best friend anyone's ever had in a giant hug. "You can just buy me pizza next time!" I tell them, grinning.

"Alright then." Yugi smiles up at me as I ruffle his hair. "Stay safe!" He commands at the same time Gramps commands "Stay out of trouble!"

I just laugh at them waving as I leave. Luckily the hospital is in the same direction I would have had to go if I were going back to my old apartment.

* * *

The rest of the summer was pretty much the same. I stopped at Yugi's for a while if I could, and we'd hang out. I'd also make sure to visit with Honda, Anzu, and Kanse-sama when I had the spare time.

And as for Kaiba, that jerk would wander around, almost always stop at "The Beean" for coffee, and occasionally stopped outside to read blue prints or other strange papers. As the summer came to a close he spent more time holed up in his office and less time wandering around. I had personally spent more time working at the museum this summer, almost every night, saving up as much as I could. By the end of summer I'd saved up nearly 158,600 yen from working so many night hours. The only bad is that I didn't finish all of my homework between stalking Kaiba and going to work at night.

"Oh well." I sigh, slipping into the school library a few hours before school began for the first time since break started. I walk quietly around, heading towards the back to the table I like the best. On my way there I internally groan as the object of my obsession lately was sitting quietly working on his own homework or work, I couldn't honestly tell which. How the hell is he always so productive? I sneak behind the shelf that was behind the table he was sitting at and grab a random book quietly, pretending to look for something.

_Maybe he's addicted to speed?_ I wonder to myself. _It would explain his jitteriness and his productivity._

"If you're going to stand behind that shelf and stare at me all day you might as well be productive." Kaiba's icy tone breaks my concentration.

"I ain't starin'." I snap, shoving the random book back in its place. "I was lookin' at books."

"I didn't know monkeys could learn to read." He replies thoughtfully.

"I ain't a monkey, moneybags." I snap at him. It had been roughly two weeks since the last time he spoke to me. I forgot how sharp his tongue was.

"Sure." He replies, turning the page of the book he had open in front of him. "Why don't you try monkey see, monkey do?" He comments writing something down from his book. "Try getting your homework done?"

It's all I can do to keep my temper in check when a brilliant idea pops into my head. "Okay, fine." I shuffle to his table and drop my bag on an open chair.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asks, sounding tired to my ears.

"Homework." I reply slowly, acting as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Get your own table."

"Make me." I reply taking my math homework out of my bag. "I'm already comfortable now." I open my book turning to the last page I had open with my math homework still tucked inside.

"Just don't irritate me with incessant chattering." He commands, giving in faster than I thought he would. I guess the weirdness was destined to continue.

"I'm sorry, I can't think when you talk so much." I reply trying to keep a smile off my face.

"Shut up." He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. It's all I can do to keep from sniggering. Plus 1 for Jounouchi.

We sit in silence for a little while, both of us focused on our work when I get stuck on a problem. I tap my pencil against my upper lip staring at the page, wishing the answer would just pop up out of nowhere. _It kind of looks like a penguin.._

"You didn't equally distribute your equations."

"What?" I ask startled, looking up to see Kaiba staring at my paper.

"You didn't make sure you were balancing your equation three steps ago." He gestures at my paper with his pencil. "Go back to that step."

"Err, thanks." I mutter, erasing my mistakes, and possible penguin.

"Quiet." Is the only reply I get.

After going back to the step Kaiba suggested I redo, I begin to get into a groove with my homework. Once in a while I get stuck again but I've taken to looking back at the penguin problem to see if I missed the same step.

"You even contemplate mathematics loudly." Kaiba's irritated voice interrupts my thought process again.

"Sorry?" I reply, wondering what he was talking about.

"It's as if every thought in your brain is pouring out of your ears." Seriously, how do people think this guy isn't on drugs?

"Why can't you just say what ya mean? You know, get to the point?" I ask after several moments of silence.

"I do say what I mean." He replies, placing his pencil on his desk and picking up a new book. "I wouldn't squander time on anything less."

"That." I roll my eyes at him. "That's what I'm talkin' about. You always use giant words and long sentences to say something else. A simple 'I do' would have worked just fine."

"'I do' is far less eloquent." He replies smoothly. "You may take all the shortcuts you would like when you speak, I on the other hand happen to be intelligent."

"You ain't gotta be an ass all the time either." I add glaring down at my math homework.

"I'm not an ass I'm just always right." His tone is practically daring me to challenge him.

"Ass." I reply gripping my pencil tightly, refusing to look at his smug expression.

"Hmp." I chance a quick glance at his face, catching the receding end of a smile. I think I just made him laugh.

* * *

"Where's Anzu?" Honda asks slightly out of breath, dropping his stuff on his desk, pulling his chair around to sit facing Yugi and me. He barely made it in time before the bell rang.

"We're not actually sure." I say, shrugging. "I think she may have the flu still."

"Eww." Honda wrinkles his nose, leaning his chair back. "Who misses this many days of school when we're just back from break?" He asks, shaking his head. "Oh shit!" He says, his eyes flicking to his left.

"What?" Yugi and I ask him at the same time, looking at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Today's a chem-lab day." He says slowly, waiting for a reply from Yugi and me.

"And?" We ask at the same time again, receiving an eye-roll in return.

"You remember that one time we had a Chem lab and the class was at an even number because someone was absent that day?"

"Yeah, some poor bastard had to partner with Kaiba. What's your point?" I ask him, rolling my eyes.

"Well, that means one of us has to be his partner, dumbass." Honda rolls his eyes at me. "We're the group that's down a man, and I guarantee Jiiko will not willingly be his partner again, especially when Atamagaii is here."

"Oh." Yugi says, looking thoughtfully at Kaiba.

"So what?" I ask him, rolling my eyes.

"Well, someone's gotta work with that asshole and I'm not doin' it." Honda mutters, looking at Yugi. "And since I'm me and Jou's, well, _Jou_, it's best if you're his partner, Yug'."

"I'll do it." I snap, my chair scraping against the wood. "I ain't a coward." I tell him, stomping up to Kaiba's desk.

"He must really want a good score." I hear Honda whisper to Yugi.

"What?" Kaiba's cold voice snaps at me from behind his laptop.

"We're in school, jackass." I tell him, snapping his laptop closed. "We've gotta do school related things, not work related thins." I don't even flinch under the glare he's giving me, I'm pretty sure this one is half as intimidating as that one time I threw his phone or the other day when I interrupted him in the library.

"You have five seconds to take your hand off of my laptop before I kill you." He threatens in a deep voice.

"Hey, Jou-" Honda starts, sitting close enough to hear Kaiba's threats.

"Shut it." I snap at him from over my shoulder, turning back to Kaiba with a fire under my ass. "You gonna get your shit done or not?" I ask him, waving a copy of our class lab book under his nose.

"I did this lab when I was 12." He tells me, snatching the book out of my hands.

"Good, means less time that we'll have to deal with one another then, doesn't it?" I snap at him, grabbing his briefcase and rifling through it for his copy of the lab manual.

"What," He asks me slowly, "Do you think you're doing?" I'm not sure, but I'm fairly certain the classroom lost a few degrees.

"You took my manual," I tell him, refusing to show any sign of his tone affecting me, "So now I gotta get yours. Where _is _it?" I snap, shaking his briefcase a bit. "Oof!" I cry out, feeling his fist make contact with my spine going _through_my organs. I'm not sure how I managed to not throw up after my stomach was squished around. Honestly it's probably because there wasn't anything in it.

"Get out of my stuff!" He snaps at me, jerking the briefcase out of my hands.

"Jou!" Honda and Yugi cry out in hushed whispers, their chairs scraping against the floor at roughly the same time.

"You," I pant, holding my stomach as I lean over, one hand resting against his desk, "prick!" I wheeze.

"Kaiba, what was that for!" Yugi asks just behind me.

"You need the nerd king to save you?" Kaiba mocks, pulling his copy of the lab manual from his briefcase easily.

"Yug," I sigh, straightening up, turning around just enough. "I got this." I tell him, motioning for him and Honda to go sit back down. "Get your work done."

"Jou," Honda eyes me, his gaze flickering between Kaiba and me. "Don't get killed." He frowns deeply, backing away to his desk slowly.

"Geek bonding at its best." I sigh, rolling my eyes at the sarcasm in Kaiba's voice.

"Jerk commentaries at their dumbest." I snap at him, grabbing the empty chair in front of him and sitting on I backwards, taking my lab manual back.

"That's the lamest comeback I've ever heard."

"You know, I bet if we were in kindergarten you'd have stuck your tongue out at me." I tell him, flipping the book open to the right page.

"Is that so?" He asks, making me look up just in time to watch him stick his tongue out at me. I can feel my jaw drop as quickly as the moment passes.

"You just-!" I point at him, my mouth gaping.

"Are you that desperate for food? You'll leave your trap open to flies?" He gloats, lifting an eyebrow.

"But you just-!" I try again, gesturing at him with my hand.

"Prove it." He says calmly, pulling a pencil from his briefcase, hastily writing things down on the paper in front of him.

"I can't." I mumble, reading his overly neat handwriting upside down. "You can't possibly know that's the answer." I sigh, feeling defeat creeping into my words as I say them, knowing full well Kaiba probably knew everything in the world.

"Hmp." He says back, smirking sarcastically at me. "But I do, don't I?" He asks, far too much confidence for any one person.

"How?" I ask, scratching my chin.

"Idiot." He sighs before launching into an explanation on the finer points of chemistry. 45 minutes later and I feel like my head's going to explode.

"But that makes sense!" I say, gaping at him again. "Science isn't supposed to make sense."

"Is there a reason you're perpetually this stupid?" He asks me, giving me the blankest stare I've ever seen.

"Yes." I tell him, looking back down at his work and then mine, studying the figures and symbols. It really did make sense.

"And?" He prompts a minute later, still staring at me with the same, empty expression.

"I didn't say I was going to explain." I shrug, handing the paper back after finishing the problem he assigned to me.

"Try not to get another detention for cheating." He tells me, signing his, and much to my surprise my own name, to the top of the page. "Turn this in." He orders, pulling his laptop back out of his briefcase.

"I didn't cheat!" I tell him, feeling anger spreading across my cheeks. I had completely forgotten about telling him about Hikizan-sensei's detentions and the reasons behind them. That must have been over a month ago.

"Sure, goldilocks, sure." He doesn't even look back up from his typing to insult me.

"Ass!" I hiss, climbing from my awkward position to hand the paper in to Hikizan-sensei. I scowl at her cold expression as I hand her my paper.

"Cheating again?" She hisses at me, snatching the paper out of my hands.

"What?" I hiss back, turning slightly red from anger.

"You're done with 30 minutes to spare." She hisses back at me, glancing down at my work. "And it's all correct too," I can practically see the evil glint in her eye as she looks back up at me; her dark brown eyes glowing with triumph. "This aught to be enough proof, don't you think?" She asks, waving the paper in my face.

"Before you go and embarrass yourself," I warn her, leaning against her desk with both hands. "Take a quick glance at who I was working with today." I tell her through clenched teeth.

Her eyes narrow slightly, her lips drawn tight. "Forging a signature-" She starts before I interrupt,

"I can't possibly have forged both his signature and his handwriting." I tell her, rolling my eyes. "If you don't believe we actually worked together, despite the several areas written in my own handwriting on the page, why don't you waddle over there and ask him yourself." I snap, gesturing behind me. "Though I highly recommend you don't bother him at the current moment, he's thinking." I stomp away from her, back to my own chair, angrily sliding into my seat.

"That bad?" Honda asks me, looking up from his work with Yugi.

"What?" I ask him, turning my heated gaze to look at him.

"Working with Kaiba." He rolls his eyes, gesturing to the man in question, who was currently busily writing something down and alternating between typing with one hand and scribbling with the other.

"Eh?" I ask, giving him the expression of "what ch'you talkin' 'bout foo'" before I shake my head. "No, Hikizan." I wave a hand at him. "She's such a-" I stop myself before I say anything I'll regret, almost certain she could read my lips, even more certain that she was watching me closely at the very moment too.

"Bitch?" Honda supplies in a whisper, his back to our bitchy teacher.

"Sure." I roll my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest. "Let's go with that."

"What did she do?" Yugi asks looking up from the problem he was puzzling out.

I drop my head into my arms, covering my lips with my forearm. "She thinks I cheated on the lab because we were done so fast, and because it was all correct. The only errors on the page were probably mine, and that asshole made me fix them." I huff, flicking my eyes towards Kaiba in a vain attempt of pointing out the villain of this story.

"You're being a drama queen." Yugi tells me, patting my arm. "Besides, I'm sure if she tries to give you a 0 she'd have to give one to Kaiba too. And, personally, I'd really like to see that."

I snicker into my elbow, glancing up at Yugi with my only free eye, the other buried in my arm when it clicks. "Sometimes I swear you're like a bundle of twisted thoughts, Yam'."

"I try." The ancient spirit tells me, before he goes back to the equation he's working on.

"Since you're done, and he's got 5,000 years helping him with his problem, you mind telling me how to do mine?" Honda growls, stabbing his pencil at his paper.

I snicker after a moment, accepting his paper from him, looking at the problem he was working on. "I'm pretty sure Kaiba added a two to the first one, a three to the third, and nothing to last." I tell him, handing the page back.

"How-" He asks, scribbling the numbers down before he slams the paper on his desk. "Damnit!" He snaps, realizing Kaiba was right.

"He's _always_right." I tell Honda bitterly. "It's like his brain is really a machine- Oww!" I cry out, jumping back as the book that hit me in the head falls to the ground. "The hell!" I cry out, looking down at my lab manual on the floor before looking over to see Kaiba turning back to his laptop, as if nothing had happened. "Ass!" I hiss out, as quietly as I can, trying to avoid Hikizan's angry gaze. Kaiba doesn't even acknowledge me.

"Jou, try not to piss him off." Honda flicks me in the nose. "He'll just kick your ass again."

"I'd take him in a fair fight." I disagree, knowing full well I'd have a hard time keeping my face in tact.

"Sure." Honda tells me, patting my arm sympathetically.

I spent the rest of the day grumpily pulling on the threads of my sleeve, trying my best to ignore the growing headache that started shortly after Kaiba throwing my book at my head.

* * *

"You know, Jounouchi-kun." Kanse wheezes at me, patting my hand that was resting on the side of his bed. "You're a strange boy." He tells me, smiling gently at me.

"I'm not that weird." I mumble, turning the page of the book we were reading.

"You just made commentary on a princess fairytale, complaining that the knight was probably just an ass in disguise." He raises an eyebrow at me.

"He is though! Did you see how often the story talks about the way he looks? I'll bet you anything this jackass was real and demanded the story be written talking about how great he was." I huff, smacking the page with the back of my hand.

"Oh Jounouchi-kun." Kanse laughs, patting my shoulder, adjusting the blanket we were lying under. "You're just jealous because he gets the beautiful girl in the end." He tells me.

"Not." I argue, shaking my head. "I could woo her easily. With this face and these abs I could woo any damsel in distress."

"You know the word woo?" Kanse asks, sounding far more impressed than he should.

"I'm not an idiot!" I tell him, putting the book down so I can pout properly.

"There, there my boy." He tells me, I can hear the smile in his voice, as his arm pats my back.

"Not dumb." I pout again, tucking my hands more tightly under my arms, my hat covered hair falling further into my eyes.

"Of course not, Kichi." He pats my blanket covered leg. "There's a good girl." He tells me, pulling my face into a hug.

"Eh?" I mumble into his chest, wondering if his mind finally snapped.

"Kanse-sama, how are you this evening?" Dr. D asks, his voice sounding far more sweet than I've ever heard, making my skin crawl.

"I'm doing wonderful, doctor." He says, still holding my face to his chest. "My old neighbor, Kichi-chan here, came all the way here to visit me. She's so wonderful to me." He says, putting on what sounds like a great display of the waterworks.

"That's sweet of her." Shini tells him, closing whatever was in his hands. "I'll come back and check on you later then."

"Thank you, Shini-sensei." Kanse says warmly as the door clicks closed again. "You can get up now." He tells me, finally releasing my head.

"You smell like old man mixed with cheddar cheese." I tell him, wrinkling my nose as I sit up, trying to rub strange odor from my nose.

"Ahh, cheddar." He sighs happily, patting his stomach.

"You're the weirdest man I've ever met." I tell him, rolling my eyes.

"And you're going to be the most fired man I've ever met if you don't get out of here. If I recall correctly you only have 30 minutes before your shift at the museum? Not to mention what will happen if you're caught by Dr. D." His soft eyes twinkle merrily as I groan.

"First you make me into a girl and then you tell me all about my responsibilities?" I grumble pulling the blanket off of my lap as I hop out of bed. "I'll try and stop by for a visit again soon." I promise, snatching by bag off of the floor, happy I'd already put on most of my security outfit, all but for my jacket.

"I hope you do." He smiles warmly at me. "Stay safe, dear boy!" He calls out to me as I walk away quickly, saluting him as I go.

I just barely manage to slip past Dr. D, pushing the door to the stairs open as he turns the other way. "Phew!" I whisper, running down the steps.

* * *

I just barely manage to clock in on time, sweating and breathing heavily. I'd had to run most of the way, but I was there with a few minutes to spare. I tiredly unlock the guard door, waving softly as the man I'm relieving nods and shuffles out the door.

I slide down into the rolling chair, quickly checking all the monitors, and writing in all the logs. It takes me almost 20 minutes to finish all the pre-shift work, but I somehow manage to finish faster than usual. Probably something to do with all the coffee I'd had that day.

I check my bag to see what books I'd brought home that day and what assignments I still had left. Luckily I didn't have any mathematics work, but I had plenty of history and quite a bit of chemistry. _Chemistry_. I groan, realizing that with all the time that had passed I probably forgot how to do the work. "Great." I sigh, pulling the books from my bag. History I could probably make something up fast and wing it a little bit. But chemistry, that was a nightmare all its own. I open my book, turning to the assignment when a sense of dread falls over me. I can hardly understand what I'm looking at.

"Better start on the assignment." I sigh, grabbing my lab manual out of my bag. "I should have taken notes while we worked." I groan, rubbing my face. I was probably going to spend the next four hours stabbing my homework with my pencil, trying in vain to relearn what Kaiba taught me in roughly half an hour.

I spend another two minutes just staring at the homework assignment, scrunching my face in distaste. "Great." I snatch my manual off the desk next to me flipping to the page where the blank lab report should have been. Only, it wasn't blank.

I stare down at the perfect, neat handwriting in the lab manual in front of me, feeling utterly confused. "He gave me the wrong book." I decide, flipping to the front to check. I blink again several times as my own messy signature stares me in the face. "But this is my book?" I sigh, turning back to the lab we did in class today, catching the word "Dumbass" near the end of the notes.

My eyes flicker down, reading the note he'd scrawled for me- "Since you obviously didn't take any notes to help your swiss-cheese brain to remember what we worked on in class, I took the liberty of scrawling the notes down for you. Next time, don't be such a dumbass and take your own notes." I can't believe it.

I snicker softly at first, re-reading the note. He actually re-wrote the lab in my copy of the manual, letter for letter, number for number. It probably took him 5 minutes. Just 5. I can't stop the hysterical laughter from escaping my lips. "That asshole spent 45 minutes with me the first time and spent another 5 re-writing the whole damn thing!" I clutch my side, tears forming in my eyes. I can't breathe; this is just too hilarious! He'd literally wasted over 40 minutes with me for no reason on his part.

"Kaiba, you asshole." I laugh harder, realizing that not only were the equations solved and logical, there were occasional sentences explaining what had happened. Most of the sentences contained at least one insult, one as many as four. I laugh for another three minutes, gasping for air at the end of it.

* * *

"Ahh, Jounouchi!" Kanse calls out warmly, patting the bed next to him. "It's so nice to see you again so soon!"

"I look at him sheepishly, shrugging as I hand him a bag of donuts. "I've had some extra free time lately, for some reason my homework keeps getting easier to do so I have more time to, you know, live?" I wink at him, hopping onto his bed, making sure my super-disguise was in place. Today I made sure to look more like a hobo than like a girl.

"Oh silly boy, you work too hard." He tells me, patting my leg, pulling out a light beige donut from the bag. "Life should be about fun! Do something spectacular!" His round face was strangely happy, his eyes shining.

"Kanse?" I sk him, tilting my head to the side. "How doped up _are_you?" I ask, suspicious.

"Lots." He tells me, nodding.

"Well, that was almost logical." I tell him, shrugging. "What did Dr. D tell you on your condition?" I ask hopefully, knowing it probably wasn't good. Kanse had been a residential patient for the past few months.

"Ahhhh." He says, scratching his beard, finishing the donut he was working on. "Not good, dear boy, not very good at all." He says, nodding happily, patting my hand.

"And yet somehow you're excited." I ask him, rolling my eyes. "You need less drugs and more reality."

"If I had more reality I'd drown in despair! And despair tastes badly." He adds, as if it were obvious. Who the hell knows what despair tastes like?

"I guess you make a good point." I tell him, giving him a sideways stare. "Alright then, lay it on me." I prompt, crossing my legs, waiting for the worst.

"Six months!" He wheezes, a sudden cough shaking his body. For some reason he's still smiling.

"Ahh." I say, holding in as much as I can. "I see."

"It's not that bad!" He tells me, grinning from ear to ear. "Means that's six months of hell!"

I stare at him, long and hard, trying to figure out if he'd had part of his brain tinkered with. "Uh, Kanse-" I ask after a few minutes of him grinning at me and me staring at him suspiciously.

"Oh not for me!" He rolls his eyes, pushing on my shoulder lightly. "For Dr. Dee!" He whispers as quietly as he can. "I'mma give him as much hell as I can!"

I just laugh in response. "You're ridiculous." I tell him, grinning broadly.

"The best kind, I hope." He pats my arm, grabbing for his journal at the side of the bed. "I've been thinking that we should plan this out!" He takes another donut from the bag, offering the bag to me. I shake my head with a smile, looking at the journal over his shoulder.

"Sure we can plan, Kanse, sure." I smile softly at him, patting his arm.

"I'm sure some of the nurses would love to help?" He asks me, his gaze flickering to the window.

"I dunno," I tell him with a shrug, "Though some of those nurses are pretty sweet on you." I nudge him with my elbow, waggling my eyebrows at him.

"Oh dear boy, I'm sure they only like me for my body." He says, grinning all the while. This man truly is insane, but he's the best.

I snuck out of the hospital a few hours later, wandering around aimlessly for a while. Kanse-sama's all I've got in the world like him. He's been like a grandfather to me since I'd met him a little over a year ago, and now he was officially dying. I sniffle just a little, refusing to get upset. I needed to stay strong, if I got upset it might make him worse. _Even though he can't see you now?_ A tiny voice asks from the depths of my mind. _Shush._ I tell it firmly, rounding a corner. _That's not the point._

You'd think that by now I'd have learned, but I haven't. I continue walking, running straight into the dark figure I should have seen.

"Watch it." A cold voice snaps at me, scaring the shit out of me as I hit the concrete. How that asshole remained standing I'll never know.

"Wha'!" I yell at him from my new seat on the ground, clutching my chest. "You watch it. Who the hell stands on the sidewalk like a looming image of death?" I yell at him, my heart still beating too fast.

"There's a street lamp right above me." He says in a dry voice, looking down at me. Though I have to admit, he's definitely right. There really is a street lamp above him. The blue-ish light giving his chestnut hair half a halo. It's ironic though because that asshole could never be an angel.

"You can't just make shit up." I snap at him, getting up and brushing myself off. I even sounded crazy to my own ears, but I'm not sure I care.

"You're insane." He tells me. "C'mon then." He says after a few minutes of silence. "You can come along since you clearly don't have anything better to do. Just promise me you won't start balling your eyes out." Kaiba snaps at me, snatching my bag from the ground as he walks forward.

"What?" I ask him, a dumb look probably on my face.

"Whatever your dork problem is, and don't tell me because I don't care, had better not make you into a blubbering idiot. I don't have the patience for that today."

How the hell did he know there was something wrong? Bastard. "Right." I mumble, jogging to catch up. "I can carry that." I say, pointing awkwardly to my bag, realizing a second later that he probably couldn't see me pointing.

"Good." He snaps throwing my bag backward without even looking.

"oof!" I cry out as the bag hits me in the stomach. "Oww." I wheeze, bending over slightly catching the bag with my arms. My stomach was still sore from Kaiba's punch a week earlier.

"Please tell me you're not still griping about that punch from science class?" He asks, echoing my thoughts.

"No." I bite out quickly, slinging the bag over my shoulder, following just behind him.

"Baby." He shoves his hands into the pockets of his coat as he turns down a side street. "Hurry up." He commands, striding quickly up the sloping sidewalk.

"Asshole." I grumble. Yet somehow, I'm just happy not to be alone right now.

* * *

AN: Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you like the slight fluff I threw in there for you, Shadow. You should hopefully know exactly which fluff was for you. (: Seeing as it's the only actual fluff in the chapter, even if it's tiny and hardly there.

Thank you so much to those of you who review! I wrote this chapter as quickly as I could as a thank you. It really means a lot to me that you do. Sorry to take up so much space with stupid AN's. Have a great afternoon!


	6. Chapter 6

_Today really sucks_. I sigh to myself, resting my head on my knees. It was a Sunday and I didn't have anything to do. I did all of my homework last night, I don't work at the Museum, I have the day off from the hospital, and my friends are all busy; it's just me and the broken lamp in my living room. _Damn stupid lamp._ I climb onto my back on the couch attempting to cool off. My apartment is stifling for a late August afternoon. I press the side my face into the cool fabric of the armrest, relishing in the slight relief.

I lay on my back for a while, staring at the door. _You should visit your pops._That annoying voice whispers in my ear. The one that makes you feel guilty when you do something bad. "Why?" I ask it, breathing slowly. "He doesn't want to see me." I close my eyelids, refusing to let tears well up over this again. "You heard what he said when we moved out. 'Don't you ever come back here you ungrateful bastard!'." I mock, still hearing his voice inside my head. "He hates me now." I feel my chest tighten and my eyes water against my will. "Besides, I have better things to think about." I tell it, trying desperately to think of something that's more pleasant.

But I can't really think of anything that's a whole lot more pleasant. Everything I think about is unpleasant or irritating. My pop hates me because I moved out. My-grandfather-like figure was dying on some hospital bed. My best friends were moving in a few months to go to college. My jobs suck and my apartment is crappy. I haven't done anything fun or for myself in a long while, and I don't have a girl friend. There haven't even been any cute girls lately that I've been interested in. There was nothing interesting or exciting in my life anymore, Just work, school, and stupid Kaiba and his even more stupider, yes I said stupider, drug addiction.

"This is hopeless!" I tell the door grumpily. It was too hot on the couch now too. _Let's try the floor! _I roll from the couch and plop onto the ancient cream-colored carpet with a thud. "Oof." I breathe out, resting my head on my hands. At least it's cooler down here. _Ahhh_. I smile to myself. _I guess this is kind of fun?_ I ponder, fiddling with a loose thread from the carpet right in front of my head. _Better than stalking an asshole or doing homework, anyway._ And that's what I did. All day. I laid on the couch, the floor, my bed, the floor some more, and possibly the kitchen floor once or twice. And that was it. I fiddled with strings, my hair, and even read from a book for a few minutes before I got bored. It was great. I did absolutely nothing. It was probably the best day ever once I forgot my worries and focused on the sweet sensation of boredom.

* * *

Going to school the next day was like a punch in the face, now that I've gotten a taste of what doing nothing feels like. But I'm almost 100% positive in my assumption that yesterday was the first and last day I'll get to do nothing in a long time.

Luckily, because I'd taken random naps while doing nothing yesterday, I woke up a little earlier than usual and got to class on time. I was on a roll! I passed Hikizan-sensei on my way in, giving her a cheeky salute as I was rubbing in that I was not only on time for school, but early. I didn't wait to see her facial expression.

The only students in the classroom were a handful of people I didn't really know. I sat down at my desk just grinning like a fool. I feel good today, ya' know? Just, good.

"Hey, man!" Honda grins to me as he strolls in 10 minutes later with Yugi.

"You're here early." Yugi beams at me, sitting in his desk to my left, taking a juice box out of his bag. "Want?" He asks, placing it on my desk without my reply. I greedily grin and snatch up the box, quickly inserting the straw.

"Thanks!" I grin taking a sip from the strange fruit juice. I'm not sure what fruit it was, but it was good.

"How'd you get here so early?" Honda grumbles from my right, munching on some sort of sandwich. Honda ate some weird things in the morning.

"Walked here." I tell him sarcastically, sipping my juice happily.

"Bah." He snaps, finishing his sandwich and promptly dropping his face on his desk.

"Idiots." A feminine voice says just in front of us; Yugi and I look ahead.

"Good morning, Anzu." Yugi greets as I give her a mock salute.

"Morning." She replies, sitting down at her desk and setting up for the day. Today is such a good day, I refuse to be in a bad mood.

I was in a good mood all day. I was in a good mood during math class, during both Japanese and English class, and I was even in a good mood during detention. The best part about being in a pleasant mood during detention is that it really got under Hikizan's skin. I wish I could explain just how fantastic that felt! I wish all of my days were this good.

"Jou." Kanako greets me coldly.

"Hey." I grin weakly as I wave slightly. "Still mad?" I ask her while glancing down at my shoes.

"Yes." She tells me nodding her head childishly.

"Are you going to tell me why?" I ask her with a wry grin. "You've been mad for a whole month, crazy." I tell her butting her out of my way with my hip. "And you're in my way."

"Hmp!" She cries as she crosses her arms and turns her head away from me sharply. "If you can't remember what you did wrong you can't be sorry that you did it!"

I sigh deeply as I pull my uniform over my head. "That doesn't even make sense." I argue back for the millionth time.

"Sure it does." She snaps and stomps her foot. "You say you're sorry but you can't remember what you did. You can't be sorry unless you intend on not doing it again!"

I sigh deeply as I drop my head against my locker. "I could be sorry if you told me what happened so I could make sure it wouldn't happen again?" I offer finally giving in to her logic.

"But if you can't remember then me telling you won't make it better!" She says as if it should be obvious.

"Can we just pretend it didn't happen?" I ask thoughtfully rubbing my chin.

"Can we just pretend the potato famine wasn't a genocide?" She argues as she places her hands on her hips.

I look at her as if she's gone insane. "What?" I ask her feeling thoroughly confused.

"That's what I thought." She nods her head and flips her ponytail over her shoulder. "I want a donut." She tells me as she turns on her heel and walks away.

"Okay?" I blink as I rub my face.

"Get to work." A cold voice snaps at me as harsh footsteps walk by.

"I'm not even clocked in yet." I roll my eyes as Shini disappears down the hallway. I make my way down to Takei's office. I knock gently on the door before walking in without being told to.

"Good afternoon, Jounouchi." The old man smiles warmly as he continues to file paperwork.

"Hey." I nod back as I flop into the chair. "Lay it on my then." I tell him leaning my arms against my knees.

"I'll need you to help Wai clean the surgical rooms today." He tells me seriously. "I know that job is usually designated for Sougi specifically but he is home with the flu today. Do you think you can manage that?" He asks me kindly.

"Of course." I nod as I scratch my ear. "Just have to clean and sterilize 'em, yeah?" I ask with a shrug.

"And the utensils. You'll need to make sure you collect them and place them in the machine. Wai will tell you exactly what to do if you forget." He assures me as he closes his filing cabinet.

"Aye aye, cap'n." I throw him a mock salute as I push myself back up from the chair.

"Arigatou, Jou." He nods to me as he sits back at his desk.

* * *

"I mean really, how in the world is it almost September?" I grumble as I lay my upper body across my desk. I wasn't looking forward to staying after for detention again but I luckily didn't have to work at the museum tonight.

"Maybe if you'd stop sleeping through your life you could live it?" Honda teases as he pokes the side of my head with his pencil.

"Shaddup." I sigh in return. "Go 'way." I mumble as I close my eyes.

"You know you can't stay after and sleep forever." He tells me as his chair scrapes against the floor. "They'll kick you out eventually."

"Probably." I agree as the sounds of the rest of the class slowly leaving for the day reaches my ears. "I've got detention again plus it's my turn to clean the classroom so I'll sit here until you jerks are outta here."

"Whatever you say, Jou. Whatever you say." He pats my shoulder as he walks by. "Later, man." I wave a half-salute half-goodbye kind of gesture as I let out a puff of air.

_Here's to another evening of detention._ I sit still for a while until almost all of the students have either left or are slowly leaving. I don't really have to clean the classroom, but I definitely have to stay after for detention. _Woopie!_Yeah…

"Wake up." A cold voice snaps just to the right of me.

"The number you have reached is not in service. Please hang up and-Oww!" I hiss as my chair jerks to the left. I snap my head up and glare daggers at the jackass who just kicked my seat. "Whadd'ya want!" I slur my words angrily.

"Come to my office later." Kaiba orders rudely. "I have a proposition for you." He says lazily. "Come after 9pm too, I'll be busy before then." He turns and walks away ignoring the way my eyes narrow in anger. My sour expression tapers off as an idea forms in my head. Of course I couldn't not go, I'd just show up early, just after my shift at the hospital ends. Being crazy early for things always irritates people. _Such a lame form of revenge._I roll my eyes.

"Jounouchi!" Hikizan snaps as she re-enters the room a moment later. "You had better not be sleeping again!" She glowers at me from the front of the room.

"I'm sitting up." I tell her grumpily.

"I know you can sleep with your eyes open." She counters as she sits back at her desk and begins to reorganize papers.

"Yup." I mutter while making a face. I pull my homework out from my desk to ignore the glare she was shooting at me. If I'm going to be stuck here I might as well get shit done.

* * *

I shift from foot to foot as I wait in the area outside Kaiba's office. _It's as stiff and stuck up as he is! _I gripe to myself, fiddling with the zipper on my school jacket

"Could you stand still?" His secretary snaps at me, an expression that stated she's clearly already annoyed by my presence. Coming early, plus one for Jounouchi.

"Can't!" I tell her, continuing to shift. "It's weird in here." I murmur, glancing around at all the blues, grays, and whites.

"Here, read this then!" She snaps at me, holding out a pamphlet. "Since Kaiba-sama just finished approving the design I suppose you can look at it." She glares at me from behind her sharply-angled glasses.

"Just finished?" I ask, mumbling as I accept it. "You make it sound like he took forever to decide."

"He did." She snaps, turning over a paper on her desk. "Why that man couldn't just decide between green and yellow I'll never know. I'm just grateful that he did, even if it was out of the blue and _during my lunch!_" I could sense this topic was a sore spot for her.

"It's green." I stare at pamphlet in my hands, realizing the significance of what she just said after a few minutes of flipping through the pages. "_Green!"_I look back up at the secretary, her expression clearly stating that if I acted any weirder she'd call the cops. "Don't you understand what this means!" I cry shaking the pamphlet at her.

The woman shoots me a piercing glare as she stamps a paper on her desk quickly. She opens her mouth to reply when a soft click and a light woosh of air cut her off. I glance over to see Kaiba's office door open and a mildly irritated brunet standing there.

"Jounouchi, quit pestering my secretary and get in here." He snaps at me from his open doorway.

"But it's _greeeen!_" I wave the pamphlet around, my expression probably priceless.

"Clearly." He states dryly. "Your point?"

"But you said yellow!" I exclaim, hopping on the balls of my feet, barely containing the sudden energy I felt.

"You're an idiot." He states blandly, stepping back into his office. "You have 30 seconds to get in here before I let Margaret call security."

I quickly walk into his office shutting the door behind me, plopping down into the armchair to the left of his desk. "You asshole!" I yell at him while throwing my bag on the ground. "You picked green!"

He smirks at me raising one of his eyebrows. "Your point?"

"But you said-" I begin before I'm quickly cut off.

"I said yellow, yes. I also said steak and I very clearly served the prime minister of England salmon." He walks back behind his desk, turning his monitor slightly to check on something.

"_Prime Minister?"_I ask, my eyes popping. "You get guests like that often?"

"No." Kaiba tells me, without even looking up. "His niece just happens to be a fan." He smirks, clearly enjoying something I couldn't see.

"Pompous ass."

His gaze flickers towards me for a second, a very amused expression on his face.

"Yeah yeah." I tell him, rolling my eyes. "You're not pompous, just 'right'." I mock, making air quotes with my fingers.

"Good boy." He coos, smirking at the instant reaction.

"I'm not a damn dog!" I growl and beat my fists against the armrests of his chair.

"Sure you're not." He says as condescending as always.

"Whatever." I sigh, turning in the chair to let my feet dangle over one end, resting my head against the armrest.

"You could at least pretend to have some dignity." He glances at me for a moment before going back to his work. "You look like a buffoon."

"Good. I'm glad I do." I tell him, swinging my feet softly. "What are we doing today anyway?" I ask staring at his ceiling, wondering why in the world it's fuchsia rather than the same blues and grays the rest of his office seems to be. "Hey." I ask, turning to stare at him. When he doesn't answer I frown. "Heeeey!" I call out again, making noises until he looks at me.

"_What_!" He snaps, glaring at me.

I look away and point up. "Why?" I ask turning back to stare at the ceiling.

"What?" He asks me at first before sighing a moment later. "Mokuba." He tells me, before the clicking resumes.

"You let Mokuba paint your ceiling pink?" I ask, grinning like a fool.

"Yes." He snaps, clicking on something. "Why in the world is that so funny?" He demands as I continue to laugh.

"Because!" I say after a few seconds. "Shizuka painted my last ceiling orange." I manage through my laughter.

"Who?" He asks while clicking on his work.

"My sister?" I say slowly while staring at him like he should have known.

He glances at me for a second before rolling his eyes. "You can't expect me to remember everyone's names." He tells me, giving me the same look he always does; that one expression that's like 'why do I even know you?'. "Just be happy I remembered you even have a sister." He turns back to his screen before the typing resumes.

"Fine." I huff, turning back to the ceiling. I wait another five minutes, just swinging my legs thinking about absolutely nothing. Maybe coming extra early wasn't such a good idea after all, this jerk can seriously stay focused. "Hey." I call again, losing the battle against my will to stay silent.

"What now?" He asks looking up at me.

"You ever wonder what it would be like to have a pet dinosaur?" I ask him keeping my face as straight as possible.

He looks at me for a second, as if deciding between whether or not to humor me or to just ignore me, and then he blinks a few times before he turns back to his work.

"So no?" I ask turning back to the ceiling. "I kind of want one." I ramble on tapping my fingers against the cool black leather of the chair. "A dinosaur, I mean. How cool would that be? A giant dinosaur that's all 'I'm a dinosaur and I'mma eat you if you don't feed me and shit'." I say tilting my head slightly to the side, resting it in the corner of the chair.

"Right." Kaiba says sounding like he's not really listening.

"And then we'll adopt a baby bird and raise it on our own. We'll name him Jackass Junior after you and get another baby bird who we'll name 'Best-Dude-Ever' junior after me." I say, waiting for a response.

"I am listening, you know." He tells me, without even looking over.

"Just checking." I grin, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"So." He says, turning his chair to look at me. "I have a proposition for you." He says, folding his hands on his desk.

"Oh, now we're getting to the point?" I ask him, turning to look at him.

"Shut up." He commands, easily deflecting my nosiness. "You need to stop following me."

"Nope." I tell him, shifting myself in the chair trying to get a more comfortable position.

"That's why this is going to be a proposition, now isn't it?" He asks. I can hear the irritation in his voice.

"Go on then." I nod to him, fiddling my fingers.

"I won't hit you in the face with a steel beam if you stop following me everywhere." He says evenly. I turn my head to look at him, take one look at his straight face, and burst into laughter. "What now?" He asks, scratching behind his right ear, clearly trying not to hit me now.

"You'd miss me." I tell him smugly. "If I stopped following you around, we'd stop hanging out randomly."

"No." He tells me, clenching his jaw tightly. "I'd finally have some peace and quite again in my life and I'd finally be able to go somewhere without you tagging along."

"Nope." I disagree, not even flinching at the tone of his voice. "Admit it, we're kind of like friends." I grin at him, wiggling my eyebrows.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He asks his hands that are now rubbing his face.

"Ha ha, we're friends." I sing tauntingly.

"No." He tells me again, standing up slowly. He places his hands against the desk and leans towards me, I can see the anger in his blue eyes. "Get out right now and stop following me."

I roll my eyes at him before getting up. "You can huff and puff all you want but it doesn't change the facts." I nag my bag while strolling towards the office door. I may have the balls to tease him but I'm certainly not staying around for the tantrum. "Don't worry, you'll be able to admit it soon!" I call out, ducking his plated nametag just in time as it clatters against the wooden door. I quickly sidle out of his office afraid another desktop projectile might hit its mark the second time around. "Margaret." I greet, nodding toward the bony secretary.

"Hmpf." She replies, without even looking up. She was just like Kaiba when he was focused on business. Scary.

I head straight out of Kaiba Corp., heading for the park. It was a peaceful night, the moon shining brightly, lighting up the sidewalk and the buildings. The air was calm and there was hardly any traffic. A perfect night, except for the tightness in my chest. "Damnit." I whisper, kicking a pebble as I head towards Domino's park. I may tease Kaiba but I don't really think he sees me as a friend. Why would he want to? He's friends with more important people, like the damn Prime Minister! I didn't get a chance to ask of which country, but I'm fairly certain he meant the UK.

I wander onto the grounds of Domino City Park heading towards my favorite spot. I like this spot, you see, it's always perfect. Come rain or shine, day or night, it always has the best view and the best coverage. The best place a guy can go to feel blue. I tug a green and golden leaf off of the tree as I lay down beneath the branches to stare up at the stars, twiddling the leaf in my fingers.

Lately I really had felt like Kaiba and I were growing to be friends. But no matter how many times he helps me on my homework, until he admits to us being friends, we clearly aren't. He'd still just as easily let me get eaten by a shark or shot by an armed gunman, even if he could save me without any harm to himself. None of what he's done up until this point mattered, I'd only be using it to lie to myself. Seto Kaiba would never consider me a friend.

"Asshole." I whisper to the trees above me, feeling the sadness set in. Even if I wasn't his friend, he'd become mine. Just don't ever expect me to admit to that in public.

* * *

It's been a few weeks since I've played a round of "Prove Kaiba's a Druggie". I was going to stop, really I was, but then I saw him acting shady again. Two weeks ago he fell asleep in class. It was the weirdest thing. Last week he actually missed a day of class and there wasn't a new release from Kaiba Corp! And even more damning was the fact that when he came back to school the next day he had dark circles under his _bloodshot_-eyes. I mean come on, how does that _not _scream drug addict?

So, here I am once more. But this time, I'm not going to give up. Well, as long as I don't fall asleep first anyway.

I've been watching Kaiba for about three hours and he hasn't done anything other than walk around and stare at the funny blue-pages again.

"I thought I told you to stop following me?" Kaiba's cold voice jerks me back to reality, or maybe back to being awake I'm not really sure.

"I was taking a nap." I defend while rolling my eyes. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm not allowed to be in the park when I want to be?" I challenge snarkily.

"You may be a complete imbecile, dog, but I am not." He snaps back.

I sigh and look down from my spot in the tree. "I ain't a dog." I grumble without bothering to muster more energy.

"You don't sound too sure about that. Shall I get a bone so we can test this theory?" He jabs crossing one of his arms under the other and tapping his chin lightly with the blue prints.

"Shut yer yap, Kaiba." I snap scowling with all my might.

"Go away if you don't like it." He shoots back.

"I was here first." I lie with a huff.

"Liar. You've been following me since 12th street." He rolls his eyes.

"Have not." I tell him ignoring his look of disbelief.

"Yeah, okay." He says sarcastically.

"It's true. I've been following you since 4th street." I tell him with a shrug.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He scowls, his sapphire eyes flashing dangerously.

"Why can't you just magically summon leprechauns?" I ask waving my arms around in some sort of attempt at making the universal hand signal for 'summoning leprechauns'.

"Just-…. You-..." He tries and inhales a large breath, his eyelids dropping slowly. I swear he holds his breath for over a minute before he exhales and reopens his eyes slowly. "I swear to Kami you are the most infuriating person I have ever met." He grinds out, a slight pink tinge coloring his cheeks.

"I do what I can." I tell him with a straight face. I nearly laugh out loud at the dark look he shoots my way, changing my mind at the last minute.

"Just go _away!_" He huffs as he turns on his heel and begins to walk away slowly.

"No way!" I yell back, quickly scrambling down the trunk of the tree. "What are we doing today then?" I ask as I huff slightly from hurrying to catch up.

"I don't care what _you_ choose to do, but _I _am going to do whatever I want." He says grumpily.

"Sounds great." I grin wickedly as I jam my hands into my pockets. "Since you don't care what I do I'll just tag along." I nearly choke on my laughter as he exhales a large breath and turns a sharp glare in my direction his eyes narrowing in anger.

"I _really_hate you." He snaps at me as we cross the street.

"D'aww, thanks." I tell him batting my eyelashes and holding a hand against my chest. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!"

"Just go die." He grumbles as he rubs his brow with his free hand.

"And that's the second nicest." I crow in mock happiness clasping both of my hands to my chest. "You're just so sweet today!" He elbows me in the ribs as we reach another corner. "Oof!" I wheeze as I rub the sore spot with my hand. "Oww." I whine as we wait for the walk symbol to appear.

"You deserved it." He says calmly, clearly ignoring my pain.

"Not." I pout as the light turns yellow.

"Did." He argues back childishly. He strides forward quickly as soon as the last car passes.

"Naahhh." I pant as I scramble to catch up. "You walk too fast."

"You shouldn't even be here." He reminds me sounding highly irritated.

"Too bad." I grin. He only sighs in response. We walk in comfortable silence for a few more blocks before we reach the large glass doors of the Kaiba Corp. Headquarters.

"Now go away before I call security to remove you." He tells me as he strides inside like he owns the place, and yes I know he does indeed own the place. "Leave my building." He snaps as I follow him inside.

"Hell no." I shoot back as we pass the main reception desk.

"Kaiba-sama, do you need assista-" The worried receptionist begins before Kaiba stops short and gives him a rather nasty glare. "S-sorry, sir." He says quickly as his face pales. "I just though-" He tries again before Kaiba holds up a hand.

"Don't think." He snaps at him as he resumes walking towards the elevators. "Do as you're told or get out." He barks as he jabs the up arrow.

"Y-yes s-s-sir." The man stammers as he quickly sits back at his desk.

"Geeze, Kaib', just make the poor bastards who actually have to work for you pee their pants. Great plan." I roll my eyes as I play with the lint in my pockets.

"Here's a though." He tells me as the elevator doors ding open. "Shut up and go away." He snaps as he strides inside.

"Not a chance." I tell him as I hop into the elevator too. I quickly press the button that heads to his office before he smacks my hand, just a second too late, and hits a different button lower down.

"I have other work to do." He sighs as he rubs behind his right ear. I grin widely at his facial expression. "Get that grin off your face before I reconfigure your bone structure." He growls as his eyes narrow.

"Pssh." I reply with a roll of my eyes. "Reconfwhatever you want on your own time." I tell him nearly laughing at the look he's giving me. It's been a while since I've seen that expression. You know the "I swear to Kami if you ever talk again I'll alter time so you never exist" face he reserves for particularly awesome sentences on my part.

"Please just die." He sighs as the elevator begins to ding.

"Does it always take this long?" I grumble and shift my shoulders against the metal wall of the elevator.

"Just stop irritating me." Kaiba snaps as he hits a few buttons.

"Alright, alright." I roll my eyes as I cross my arms. I remain silent for the rest of the trip. It's only a short while later before the elevator dings and the silver doors glide open.

"Hurry up." He grumbles as he walks out of the doors.

"Yeah yeah." I roll my eyes and shuffle behind him. "Where are we going anyway?" I ask as we pass random doors and archways.

"My lab." He tells me as if it should have been obvious.

"A lab for what?" I ask nosily.

"For working, dumbass." He retorts sharply.

"Working on what, rudeass?"

"The headset. You remember what I told you about it right?" He asks as he unlocks the large door and leads the way inside.

"The virtual-headset doodad? Yeah, sure." I shrug as I follow him over to the second table in the room and hop onto a stool.

"Well, I've finished most of the programming for it." He explains as he sets the roll of blue-prints on the table. He carefully sets the edges under paperweights and begins to point out the different changes he's made since the last time I saw it two months ago.

"And what part took so long again?" I ask scrunching my nose feeling lost already.

"The medical part." He sighs as he taps his white pencil against the metal table. "Don't you remember anything anyone ever says?" He gripes as he makes a small mark on the edge of the page.

"Sure do." I say rolling my eyes. "Just ain't got an example right now." I shrug.

"How convenient." He shoots back sharply. "Anyway, as I was saying, I needed to complete a specific piece that would allow the headset to connect with the optic nerve rather than just send signals to it."

"Which makes it so people can see, even people without eyes." I recite remembering at least something.

"Er, right." He says slowly. I glance up in time to catch the end of what might have been a surprised facial expression. "And I've finally figured out that piece." He spends the better part of an hour explaining how the headset would connect with the spinal chord without breaking through the skin or causing any damage. I still have no idea how he plans to get that to work out, but I'm sure there's some sort of space-magic involved.

"That's complete genius." I mumble in awe at the end. "And it'll actually help people!"

"I'm aware." Kaiba shoots back as he continues to mark things down on the large blue pages.

"No, seriously!" I exclaim as a thought comes to mind. "The only thing you have to be careful of is perverts trying to steal your technology and making pervert pretend sex sites or something." I shrug as I lean my elbows against the table.

"If someone tried to steal my technology they'd be hard pressed to find a way to get this open-" he says as he holds up the prototype he fetched during the explanation"-without ruining the internal mechanisms. If they try to crack it open, the pieces inside are set to shatter to cause confusion. The true genius is in the fact that the real reason this equipment can hook up to the central nervous system is through this." He explains, holding up the tiny tip of metal that connects to the base of the skull. "It's hardly visible, but it's got a microscopic bit that lets it tap into your nervous system at will."

"You think of everything, oh wise one." I huff sarcastically.

"Of course I do." He huffs back in the same tone nearly making me grin.

"Alright, genius," I ask in a challenging tone. "What happens with people's real-life bodies? They just leave it sittin' in a chair?"

"Their bodies are physical and their mind will, in a sense, detach from being consciously connected with them." He explains sounding as if he were straining to explain this in the simplest way possible.

"Yeah okay, asshole. I'm sure that's how it works. People just leave their bodies and float around some magical field sounds more accurate." I scoff as I scroll through the photos on his strange metal and class mini-computer tablet thing.

"Kaiba?" I look up when I didn't get a reply but Kaiba wasn't standing on the other side of the table anymore. "Kaiba?" I call again standing up and glancing around the room. It took me a moment to realize he was on the floor. "What the hell are you.." I began as I walk over to him.

"Kaiba!" I shout as I kneel next to him. His pained stare at the ceiling was alarming, but the twitching of his limbs and convulsing of his chest were plain frightening. "I'll get help!" I start for the door when something latches onto my pant leg. I glanced down to see a pale, bony hand gripping the material.

Even during a seizure Kaiba could will his body to follow his orders. I looked down into his pleading blue eyes and watched as they pointed to his phone still lying on the table. "Dr. Izine. Call. No one else." He ordered his voice sounding contorted. His eyes began to roll as his body starts to jerk more violently. I knew that I should call for an ambulance rather than waste time calling some random doctor. I'll bet his body's tweaking out to the drugs he was on. No doubt the really dangerous kind.

I couldn't compel myself to do it though. I couldn't leave the room to call for better help. Instead I leapt to the table grabbing his little black phone. It took me longer than I'd like to locate his contacts list and slightly longer to find Dr. Izine.

I find the right number and hit the little green button as I race back to Kaiba's side. "Don't die, jackass." I command. "I don't feel like explaining to the press how you died." I'd never admit it to his face, but I've grown to like him on the living side of humanity. A little. Just a little, tiny bit though.

"Come on, come on." I grumble as I crouch next to Kaiba.

"Kaiba-sama, it's rather late, don't you think?" A male voice floods from the phone snatching my attention away from Kaiba.

"Dr. Izine?" I ask as my voice wavers in shock.

"Oh, what's wrong?" The doctor's voice quickly changes tone as he realizes something must be wrong.

"He started seizing out of no where!" I cry out as I watch Kaiba twitch. I can hear faint scuffling sounds from the other side of the phone and a gentle tinkling of metal on metal.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Dr. Izine says as his voices wavers. He must be running. "I need you to roll Kaiba-sama onto his side and make sure he doesn't bite his tongue." Izine orders as I gulp silently staring wide-eyed at Kaiba.

"You sure I should move him?" I ask fearfully as I rush to do so anyway. I tuck the phone between my head and my right shoulder.

"Yes. Do you have any pillows or anything near by to place his head on?" Izine asks as a quiet dinging noise starts in the background.

"Er, no." I say after quickly glancing around. "I don't have my jacket either, we're in his lab at Kaiba Corp." I admit as I finish rolling his body onto his side.

"Make sure there's nothing blocking his mouth and make sure any fluids that may be there have a way out." Izine orders. "You're going to have to put his head on your lap or under an arm."

"Right." I reply awkwardly as I quickly scoot to his head and gently shift around until his head is resting in my lap as my feet rest on either side of me. "What now?" I ask sounding more panicky than I'd like.

"Wait there until I get there; if he gets any worse, and I mean you're absolutely afraid he'll die, you'll need to call the Kaiba Corps paramedics. If that happens, don't tell him in the future that you called them. He'll kill you." Dr. Izine advises with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Do you understand?" He asks.

"Yeah." I whisper as I wait nervously.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll stay on the line with you until I get there. Keep calm, what's your name, son?"

"Jou." I tell him as I awkwardly check to make sure Kaiba isn't choking.

"Well, Jou, you're doing a fantastic job." He tells me as the dinging noise starts up again. "I may lose signal in a few seconds, but if that happens it means I'm in the elevator, alright?"

"Yup." I reply as I sit there awkwardly and hoping Kaiba doesn't die in my lap.

I wait for a few minutes as Izine asks a few random questions and a few that I'm pretty sure weren't really important. It takes only a few more short questions before the door unlocks and a small, middle-aged man rushes in smoothly with a small silver box and a stern expression.

"Help me remove his jacket, careful with his head." He orders as we work off Kaiba's jacket. My jaw tightens when I notice his inner-elbow. I didn't expect Kaiba to be dumb enough to be using any drugs that need a needle, but I swear I can see the evidence of tiny holes.

"Doc," I begin in an attempt to bring up the marks.

"Just a moment, Jou." He tells me as he lays Kaiba's arm back against his body. "This is very unorthodox." He tells me as he cleans off the underside of Kaiba's arm and quickly pulls a syringe from his shiny, metal kit. I feel my mouth dry up and slight bile rise in the back of my throat. I absolutely _hate_needles. I quickly shut my eyes before he sticks the thin, silver needle into Kaiba's arm.

"Are you done with that thing?" I ask him a second later still feeling sick.

"Yes. You can open your eyes now." He tells me gently. "I'm sorry. I didn't think to warn you.

"S'alright." I mumble still feeling a little feint. I quickly remove the rest of Kaiba's jacket from his other arm and ball it up into a pillow. I slide his head off of my lap and onto the makeshift pillow trying my best not to disturb him.

"You did the right thing, Jou." Dr. Izine tells me a second later as he replaced the syringe back into his kit.

"Did I?" I ask him darkly. "Did you notice his arms?" I ask him while crossing my arms. "He has other needle marks and I somehow doubt they're from whatever you just gave him!"

"That's not that unusual." He said softly. "I've been working with Kaiba-sama for a little over a year." The small man said. I could barely understand him. And then it clicks.

"You mean you know?" I ask weakly, leaning my back against a table leg.

"Know?" Dr. Izine asks carefully, quickly examing me for some reason. "Know what?"

"That he's got a problem!" I nearly shout, my heart beating loudly in my ear. "And he ain't doin' nothin' about it?" I ask as my breaths start coming faster.

"Jounouchi-san, sometimes it's hard for someone like him to admit to this kind of issue." Dr. Izine tells me slowly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You need to calm down, you're near hyperventilation. If you need I can prescribe you some something to bring down your anxiety." He tells me, I can see a frown forming between his brow.

"No." I tell him, pressing my lips together tightly and I breathe slowly through my nose. I continue forcing myself to calm down, allowing my eyelids to slowly shut. "No." I repeat again after I have calmed down a bit. "That won't be necessary." I say, rubbing my face with my hands. "I'm okay."

"Good." He says turning back to Kaiba. "Though I must warn you. Kabia-sama's condition is very serious. It is imperative that you remain absolutely silent about what you have witnessed today. Do you understand?" He asks me. While his voice was pleasant and his tone controlled, the threat was very clear.

"Yes, Izine-sensei." I whisper, my eyes wide. I wonder if this guy is Kaiba's dealer? It would make sense, especially if he was addicted to opiates.

"Good." He smiles pleasantly at me. "I'll ask you to help me lift his body onto the couch over there. He'll probably sleep for quite a few hours, however. You may wish to go home after we've moved him." He leans down and grips Kaiba under his arms and motions for me to grab his feet with his head.

"Will he be alright by himself?" I ask, glancing carefully at Kaiba's pale face as I lift him from under his knees, he weighs significantly less than I was expecting. I follow Izine's lead and help lay Kaiba on the couch.

"Oh yes. Kaiba-sama is always better after my visits." He tells me smiling eerily and slightly out of breath. This guy just _had_to be Kaiba's dealer. Whatever he shot into Kaiba's arm was definitely a heavy drug. "And don't worry, son. I'll be here."

I nod my head softly and grab Kaiba's jacket off the floor. "If you're sure…" I say as I cover him with his jacket. "I'll be going then." I wave gently as I head out of the office.

"Don't forget, Jou." He calls after me. I pause at the door to glance back and lift an eyebrow. "Keep silent." He smiles at me. I'm officially very creeped out now. I nod again and leave as quickly as I can.

AN:

Thank you for reading! It amazes me how many people stop by to take a gander at my fic! Thank you for taking the time to take a peek! (: Happy (sort of) Monday!

Also, as a heads up, this story will not reallybe a SLASH fic here on. There may be scenes that elude to that type of relationship, but it won't necessarily be that way. However I may have SLASH scenes posted on instead. It will also be slightly more explicit there as well. I'll post a link on my profile if you wish to check it out there once I've begun to write the differences between the two versions of this story. I will update here first though.

If I go through with writing a sequal for this story, the sequal will be a SLASH fic on both sites.


	7. Chapter 7

**Pre-AN: Parts of this chapter won't make a lot of sense. Just shut ch'yo mouth and enjoy; I almost scrapped the entire back half of the chapter because it doesn't really fit. But I like it and it was one of the first completed parts so I decided to share it, though it's really more of an omake.  
**

"You're late." Honda whispers from my right, a stupid knowing grin plastered to his face.

"Yeah yeah.." I grumble as I slide into my chair. "But Hikizan ain't here yet, is she?" I huff at him.

"You got lucky this time." He agrees.

"Probably." I nod sleepily and place my face against the cool wood of the desk.

"You shouldn't cut it so close though…" Yugi says quietly from my left, his voice full of concern.

"Wake up!" Anzu exhales loudly from in front of me.

"M'can't." I tell her with a yawn. "I have mustsleepitis. Wake me up when Hikizan's here." I mumble before I'm out like a light. The past few days have been rough. Between working two double shifts last week at the hospital during my nights off from the museum and worrying about what I should say to Kaiba, or worse yet what he might threaten me with, have left little time for sleep.

But the funny thing is Kaiba hasn't said anything. He hadn't even missed the next day of school. When I'd tried to ask him how he was he completely ignored me. Not only that but I had to explain to Honda why I even cared. And let me tell ya, that was awkward.

But this week is a completely different story. It's Wednesday and I already feel like I'm dyin'. I can't stay awake for five minutes at a time – with coffee. I can't care less what Hikizan would say when she got to class; at least I'm here. I also can't care less what's going on with Kaiba. I just don't have the energy to deal with either one. And it's not like I ain't got detention anyway….

"Jounouchi-san." A cold, livid voice hisses in my ear, my good mood and dreams dashed. _Damn_.

"Mm." I mumble back, lifting my head just enough to pry one of my eyes open. I almost wish I hadn't opened my eye, Hikizan's glare could probably petrify small children.

"This disrespectful behavior is _enough_." She growls out, her right hand grips her pointer-stick so tightly her knuckles are bleached against her skin. If I didn't know any better I'd be afraid she was going to hit me with it.

"'M Sorry." I mumble as I try in vain to open my left eye, but it's just so damn _hard_.

"Sorry?" She hisses dangerously. "Get out." She demands sharply. I sigh as I put all the effort I have into pushing my chair back and standing up.

"Okay." I mumble sleepily to her as I snatch my bag from the side of my desk.

"Go out in the hall and wait until I have time for you." Hikizan dismisses frostily.

"Okay." I mumble slightly confused, too sleepy to care about her strange orders. At least in the hall I could sleep.

"And you will stand. I will not have you sleeping in the hall!" She hisses as I scuffle past. I don't think anyone else could have heard her, for which I am grateful. I wince at the thought of trying not to fall asleep without anything to do. I ignore the stares of my classmates and frown at Kaiba's rigid back in his seat. The damn jerk hadn't even bothered to stare! Bastard.

Waiting in the hall is pure torture. I don't think she'll ever waddle out the door to rage or make some attempt to punish me further than I've already been punished. There isn't a whole lot else she could do to me at this point.

I tap my fingers against the wall as I lean against a windowsill, a small relief for my aching feet. My muscles are screaming from overuse and my head feels too packed and full of air all at once. I have never felt so physically drained before and my day has only just begun!

"I told you not to sleep!" A hushed, shrill voice berates my eardrums a few moments later and my eyes pop open.

"Not sleepin'." I tell her, exhaustion evident in my tone.

"DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" She yells while somehow still sounding soft-voiced. I can't quite explain the sound to you, but it's shrill and awful all the same.

"I ain't lyin'." I force the words through my teeth. "I'm perfectly awake." I add for good measure.

"Do you think you're funny?" She snarls, her fists on her hips. "You are disrespectful, you don't do your work, you lie and cheat! I am displeased the you are allowed to be a student in this school, but mark my words, if this behavior continues to happen that will change." Her threat slices through the air, a layer of ice and fear crawl over my chest and stomach. I know it isn't legal, but I believe her. It feels as though I have eaten nothing but bile and acid for weeks and there is a battle between my stomach and my will to keep the mixture down. "Do you understand?" She asks slowly, deliberately.

"Yes." I whisper, my eyes finally wide awake.

"One more mistake, Jounouchi, and you will regret it." I gulp down my fear and nod my head slowly to show I understand. "Do not move from that spot until it is time for the next lesson. I'll have someone fetch you." She snaps coldly.

I don't have the heart to reply with words and settle for nodding my head instead. I watch as she angrily stomps back into the classroom all the while wondering "_what am I going to do?"_

* * *

I sleepily sneak onto the second floor, slip past a few nurses, duck low as I stumble along behind a tray carrying supplies and nearly complete the actions with a super-spy dive-roll into room 217 of Domino Hospital. I normally would have rolled on the ground, but I'm not sure I'd have been able to get back up afterwards. "Kanse?" I whisper as I slide the curtain around the bed closed. "You awake?" I ask as I sit on the end of the bed.

"No, definitely not," Kanse replies from behind the novel he in his hands. I could have died with laughter as I realize I should have clearly seen he was sitting up and reading. "How have you been sleeping?" He asks me carefully as he places a slip of paper into his book and places it aside. "I'm assuming not well judging my your appearance." He frowns in a grandfatherly fashion.

"I'm sleeping well enough." I assure him with a crooked smile. "There's much for me to do, after all." I assure him airily. "I'm far more interested in how you're doing." I urge softly, hoping to change the topic from myself.

"My family came to visit." He told me mischievously. I arch an eyebrow and lean forward with my elbow on my knee and my head in my hand.

"You were allowed to bring your cats into your room?" I ask him, doubt clearly written all over my face.

"I never said I was allowed." He explains merrily, a wicked glint in his eyes. "I just said they were here to visit." I laugh heartily, my mood lifted by his bright outlook in his miserable situation.

"Oh, Kanse-sama." I laugh easily as I shake my head in a mockingly-reprimandingly sort of way. "You didn't even invite me!" I tack on at the end, a wide grin stretching across my face.

Kanse laughs, a light wheezing sound. "It was only this morning for a little while." He assures me with a smile. "We only had a moment or two before damned Dr. D was scheduled to be on the clock. Poor Whiskers has missed me." He shook his head sadly. "I hope to be released soon, you know." He chatters happily and my head shoots up.

"Released?" I worry, the feeling of being sick boiling and churning in my stomach.

"I don't want to spend the last of my time here." Kanse explains gently, one of his cold hands slid forward to grasp my left hand. "I want to be at home, with cats and my home." My chest tightens as I stare into his face. "I don't live far from here, you will come visit?" He asks gently.

I nod my head without hesitation. "Of course." I whisper gently, my eyes stinging.

"That's lovely." Kanse squeezes my hand before sitting up once more.

"Of course it is." I try for a teasing tone, a quick flash of a grin and a wink of my eye. "After all, who doesn't want a visit from this?" I waggle my eyebrows and toot my horn as loudly as I can. Kanse laughs and I laugh with him. We spend quite a bit of time reminiscing and conspiring against Dr. D.

Finally Kanse sits up tall and pats the side of my face affectionately. "What's wrong, m'boy?" He asks merrily, coughs, and shifts. "What's under your skin?" He asks wisely, seeing straight through the false calm I've been hiding behind.

So I tell him. I tell him of the stresses of my jobs, of my classes, my sensei, and my friends. I tell him of my tiredness, my detentions, and finally about Kaiba. I tell him what I've been keeping a secret for so many months now, of my fears and disappointments. I tell him how different Kaiba has been since the beginning of the summer and how nothing seems to make sense anymore. I tell him everything, without holding back because that's how Kanse prefers it. He can always tell when I leave something out of the story or hold information back anyway so it's no use pretending.

"That's quite the tale, my boy." He sighs as I finish, my head in my hands. "Have you asked him what is going on?" He asks as though it's the obvious answer.

"You don't understand." I huff as I fall to my right side and lay across his legs. "You don't simply walk up to Kaiba and ask him what he's doing with his life, not unless you want a verbal beating or the occasional fist in your ribs." I sigh heavily as I wrap my arms around my head, placing my chin on my forearms. "The longer I follow him around the more of a human being he becomes." I admit, feeling guilty. "The more I worry that maybe he is lost, maybe he has a problem and no one wants to help him. Maybe no one can help him." I mumble out loud.

"Jou." Kanse says gently, soothingly. "I know that you are worried, and you care for this boy, you do want to help him, right?" He asks gently and I snort at the thought.

"Care about Kaiba?" I ask in disbelief. "He's a robot." I explain as though that's all there was. "He doesn't have friends." I add as an afterthought.

"I don't believe that you believe that." Kanse gently chides, I can feel something hard, yet soft, poke me on the top of my head. "I can see that you're worried for him a great deal. You should talk to him. " He urges gently.

"I'll try." I promise vaguely before I shift the conversation to sports. Anything to change the topic would have worked. I don't think I'm ready to admit that I care what happens to Kaiba Seto, asshole extraordinaire.

* * *

I hate Christmas, I really do. I don't know why so many people in the city of Domino celebrate this stupid holiday anyway. It's expensive, makes people crazy, and is completely pointless. They aren't even religious! But whatever.

The only good part of Christmas is the museum is closed at night. The worst part is the hospital needed extra hands at the moment. It's like I can't ever catch a break!

"Bunch of assholes." I grumble, kicking a pebble on the side of the road. "It ain't like I'm some super genius who can perform surgeries and save lives!" I growl, kicking the same pebble as I walk. "Not like I was really all that much help!" I gripe some more, kicking the pebble a little too hard and into the street.

"Damnit." I grumble as I turn to glare at the pebble. "You too?" I yell at the pebble in question. I probably shouldn't stand on the side of the street yelling at a pebble but it's oddly soothing. "Oh the loneliness of me." I mutter to myself as the street starts to light up. I turn in the direction of the oncoming traffic and wince at the level of brightness. "Jerk." I fuss, turning and continuing my journey home. I try my best to ignore the impossibly, irritatingly bright lights as they drive up, moving slower and slower.

"What now?" I complain as an old gray car pulls up. "Get outta here!" I yell at the window.

"How nice to see you too." An icy voice calls from the other side. I stop walking and tilt my head to the side. "I see you're lost, did you need help finding your way back home, kid?" The voice mocks.

"Shut up, asshole." I grumble.

"I don't think so. I rather enjoy watching the rabble amble down the sidewalk at night. Reminds me how much better I am than the less fortunate." Fuck. Kaiba. Why does this asshole always have to ruin my day? Ignoring the fact that my day was already awful. All I want is to punch him in the face. Instead I get another one of my brilliant ideas. A dark grin overtakes my face as I grab the door and pull it open.

"If you're gonna run your rich, punk-ass mouth you might as well give me a ride home." I snap back as I climb into the seat.

"Get out of my car." Kaiba snaps at me, wiggling the stick gadget in the middle. "You're out of your mind."

"Like hell I am, drive that'a'way if you forgot how to work this thing. Just stick your feet somewhere down there and go!" I wave my hands around like a weirdo waiting for him to go.

"You're joking." He says slowly and turns his head to stare at me.

"Er?" I reply scratching my head.

"You have no idea how to drive, dumbass." He rolls his eyes, wiggling the knob, gadget thing again. "It was in park so there was no way it was going to move forward if I pushed down on the pedal." He explains to me slowly as if waiting for something.

"Yeah? So wiggle the stick and let's go." I repeat as though it should have been obvious.

"You're an idiot." He snaps bitingly driving the car forward anyway. "I'll just drop you off wherever it pleases me most." His stupid trademark grin starting to creep onto his face.

"Go left, I live that way." I point.

"Whatever." He sighs following directions. _I can't believe he just turned when I said to!_

"What the hell is this, a foreign car?" I look around the dash to find out the model.

"What?" He asks staring at me like I said something stupid again.

"Ain't this usually the driver seat?" I huff as though he should have known what I meant.

"So you do know something about cars after all." He replies sounding like the snot I'm sure he is.

"It ain't like I've never been in one." I mutter, crossing my arms.

"Well, for your information, this _is_a foreign car. A classic Italian model." I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the annoying tone his voice adopted, as though he were bragging about his child's latest drawing to his friends.

"Why?" I ask, turning to glance at him. "Turn right."

"Why what?" He sighs and turns down the correct street.

"Why do you own such an old car when you can have any car you want?" I explain.

"It's obviously because I desire this car. Even you can't be that dense." He scoffs.

"No, why. Why do you want this car and not others?" I explain again, getting frustrated. "That ain't that hard of a question, a genius like you should be able to answer that."

"And an imbecile like you should be able to ask a more articulate question from the beginning." He replies coolly.

"Whatever. Take another left at the drug store on 21st." I growl feeling my mood darken. We sit in silence for a few minutes.

"You still haven't said why." I remind him.

"You're persistent." He sighs turning left at the drug store. "It's because I like the model. It's reliable, comfortable, and predictable." He recites.

"You sound like you just answered a question for a prof." I roll my eyes, turning my head to judge him better.

"You're impossible." He replies.

"Oh!" I cry, sitting up. "Turn here and the third one down."

"Here?" He asks, pulling up in front of my apartment complex. "Interesting." He murmurs, wiggling the stick thing for the millionth time.

"Why do you wiggle that thing so many times?" I ask while pointing to the silver stick.

"It changes the gears in the car controlling the speed." He recites again.

"Do you always sound so robotic?" I wrinkle my nose imagining he truly were a robot. It's not too far of a stretch, really…

"Do you always take so much time getting out of the car?" He shoots back.

"Yeah." I snarkily reply, crossing my arms.

"Get out." He commands, a dark expression shadowing his eyes.

"No way. If I get out then I have to go upstairs and commit murder." I explain, watching his expression carefully.

"I swear to Kami you get weirder and weirder every time you open your mouth." He groans and rubs his forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"Mathematics homework. I'm going to go murder my homework." I nod at his expression. "Yeah, it's like murder. I don't understand it but I stab at the paper anyway." I shrug.

"Fucking weird." He throws his left hand up and twisting his keys out of the ignition with his right. "Let's go." He commands, climbing out of his door.

"Eh, wha'?" I cry, clambering out on my side, slamming the car door shut.

"Which apartment number is it?" He strides effortlessly towards the front door of the main complex building, pushing a button on his key chain making his car beep.

"408." I answer still in shock.

"Hurry up." He orders as he climbs the stairs two at a time.

"Do you always go so fast?" I grumble, practically running up the stairs to keep up.

"I don't like wasting time on walking. It irritates me." He comments, turning onto the main hallway of the fourth floor.

"And I'm the weirdo?" I sulk.

"Do you lock your door?" He inquires, stopping in front of my apartment.

"Of course." I retort as I search my bag for my keys. "I ain't got much," I explain as I wrestle my door open, using my hip to pop it out of the way, "but I ain't crazy either. I don't want no punks messing the place up." I walk in throwing my bag next to the small couch that makes up a whole half of the furniture in my living space.

"It's clean." Kaiba comments in a half-awkward half-awed sort of voice.

"Why so shocked?" I demand as I plop down on the floor in front of the other piece of furniture, a dark colored coffee table.

"You don't strike me as the member of a 'keep the house clean' kind of family." He explains as he shuts the door quietly behind him, locking it as I gesture for him to do so.

"I don't live with anyone else." I tell him softly as I keep emotions out of my voice. "I live here by myself."

"You can afford to?" He asks suspiciously.

"Er, yeah." I respond as I pull my book out of my bag and scoot onto the ground. "I work a bit here and there," I lie a little, not quite wanting to admit to how much I work. "Gotta work tomorrow morning at 7, actually. Though not according to school, so keep ya mouth shut."

"I see." I look up, catching him staring at the only photo in the entire apartment, the photo of my baby sister.

"You can sit on the couch, if you like?" I offer pointing to the furniture at my back.

"I suppose." He walks over and gracefully sits down. I swear, a man should not move that gracefully. "You're wrong already." He leans over my shoulder, snatching the pencil out of my hand. "You need to move your x, n, and your subscript." He erases the part of my work that I'd already done and scribbles down the same steps on my notes.

"Thanks." I mumble, pulling a second pencil out of my bag, confused already.

A short sigh interrupts my brooding. "You're confused?"

"No." I answer quickly, tapping my eraser against the table.

"Idiot." He begins to redraw the example in my notes with a neater hand. "Watch." He orders, marking down different letters and numbers and explaining each thing as we went.

"Huh." I mumble, scratching my head. "Why doesn't Whosiwhatsits just say it like that?"

"She does." I can practically hear Kaiba's eyes rolling about in his head.

"Does not, she never makes any sense." I sigh, restarting the problem.

"Sure she does. You just don't get it because you don't listen."

"I don't listen because she doesn't make sense. She just makes my brain hurt." I explain as I glance back and forth between my notes, my edited notes, and the problem.

"Your brain doesn't work properly, you're not an apt specimen to take a sample from." I roll my eyes as I stare at his example versus my example. _It kind of looks like a pony in my example but a bear in his…_

"Did you just say I'd be a sucky science experiment? Like Frankenwhatever?" I realize slowly after letting his words sink in.

"I meant a social experiment." He replies without missing a beat.

"Same thing." I huff, changing the way I stared at the problem, trying to solve it with a different approach.

"You're impossible."

"And you're ridiculous."

"I think that might be the biggest word you've ever used." Kaiba drawls.

"Nu uh, I just said Frankenwhatever. That was a huge word."

"I meant most advanced." He sighs, sounding less irritated than normal.

"Not what you said." I grumble as I reach the end of the problem, staring at what I figure should probably be my answer.

As if he could hear my thoughts, I could hear Kaiba's voice slightly closer to my head as he glances over my work. "And that's actually the right answer."

"HA!" I crow, doing a quick victory dance, well sort of. "I'm a genius yet!"

"That was an easy problem." I puff out my cheeks comically, refusing to let his grumpy attitude ruin my good victory.

"No cares." I reply, starting on the next problem.

We spent the next few hours bantering back and forth and finishing my homework. It took me several tries on a lot of problems, and a lot of eraser marks, but I was able to get the entire assignment done, every question completely answered; for the first time since middle school.

"Er, thanks, Kaib'." I yawn, stretch-turning to look at the brunet on my couch. "You didn't have to-" I stop, wide eyed as I finish stretching. I seriously can't believe my eyes, it's like the world was ending. "Kaiba?" I ask again, poking the brunet with the butt of my pencil. "Holy shit, it does sleep!" I drop my hands into my lap, my mouth hanging open. It's weird how much more peaceful the man looks in his sleep.

After a few more pokes and some retries of his name I finally give up. I pick his feet up and put them on the couch, grinning when he still has not woken up. "He sleeps like the dead." I comment to myself, shuffling to grab the warmer blanket from my bed. "Lucky I'm grateful for your help, jackass." I grumble as I settle the blanket over his finally silent form. "Gets pretty cold in here at night, so sometimes you need more than one blanket. But, this should be fine." I yawn shuffling back to my bed. "G'night, I guess?" I sigh and glance at the clock. _Fuck._ I hadn't realized how late it had gotten. "I swear that did not take that much time." I frown, climb into bed, and set my alarm clock for three hours in the future. "Oh well, more sleep than I get other nights, right? At least I don't have school tomorrow, just work." I tell myself in some weird attempt of encouraging myself.

It was really annoying the next morning when my alarm went off at 6 am, an hour earlier than I usually have to wake up for school. "Merry fucking Christmas." I curse, rolling out of bed. "Still dark out, still cold, and still miserable." I shuffle toward the kitchen, glancing at the folded blanket on my couch. "Wonder when he woke up." I mumble, tugging the fridge open. "Nothing, nothing, and more nothing." I frown, shutting the door.

"Why isn't' there ever any food? I swear I go to the store all the damn time!" I sulk as I scrounge through the cabinet. "Nonsense!" I snap as I go back to my room to change. _"I'll have to pick something up on my way there." _I dress quickly, having only ten minutes to get ready anyway. Five minutes later and I'm dressed and ready to go.

"I could just leave early…" I muse thoughtfully when a sharp knocking starts at my door. I'm pretty sure I just peed my pants a little... "What now.." I grumble as I tug my door open.

"Let's go." A grumpy brunet barks as I pull the door open.

"The hell?" I scowl. "What are you doing back here, Kaiba?" I ask stupidly.

"Doughnuts." The brunet rolled his eyes, holding up a bag and shaking it in my face. "Condolences for falling asleep on your couch. Now, let's go." He tilts his head in the direction of the stairs.

"Go where?" I ask dumbly, sliding my keys from my pocket and following him out the door and locking it behind me.

"You said you had work at 7, didn't you?" He explains slowly, beginning to walk briskly. "I calculated that you would need to leave at roughly 6:15 am in order to get to work on time walking at your pace and that distance, adding a few extra minutes just in case."

"You're seriously weirder than I am." I threw my hands up, practically jogging behind him. "Why do you care?"

"I like to be in at the office by at least 7:15 every morning. I'll drop you off on my way there."

"Why?" I ask feeling completely baffled.

"Because I can and it's not an inconvenience." He explains as if the answer should be obvious.

"You don't even know where I work, it could be in the opposite direction." I challenge, hopping down the last stair after him.

"Unlikely seeing as you were in the same general direction as Kaiba Corp last night. Not to mention almost _all_places of work, for you, are in the same general area?" He hit a button on his keys again, a soft thunking noise coming from the door.

"Whatever, smartass." I grumble, tugging open the gray door of Kaiba's car.

"Glad you're catching on, dumbass." He replies, dropping the doughnut bag on my lap as he climbs into his seat. "Safety belt." He orders as he pulls his on and starts his car.

"Yeah, yeah, mom." I grumble, tugging the gray strap over my shoulder. "Ooo, sprinkles." I grin, pulling out a pink glazed doughnut with the promised sprinkles. "Oh hey, where was Mokuba last night?" I ask with a mouthful of doughnut. "I just realized he was home alone if you crashed at my place."

"He's on a school field trip." Kaiba explained, driving back through the same route from last night. "Some tropical learning experiment."

"On a holiday?" I scoff, licking frosting off of one of my fingers.

"Christmas is a Christian holiday." He frowns. "You can't honestly be that dumb."

"Hey, more than half this stupid town celebrates, even the non-religious." I defend, bluffing the statistics.

"No." Kaiba tells me. I puff out my cheeks and pout like a toddler. "Even if that were the truth, I'm not religious and neither is Mokuba." I let out the air between my cheeks and stuff the last of the doughnut into my mouth.

"Didn't think you were." I sigh now happily full from the donut.

"Then why did you ask?" He asks, taking a left.

"Sarcasm mostly." I shrug.

"Weirdo."

"Even weirder weirdo." I shoot back. All I receive is a sigh in reply.

A few minutes later, Kaiba stops at the point where he picked me up the day before. "Where is it you work then?" He asks gruffly.

"Just a little further thataway." I tell him, wadding up the donut bag and chucking it at him. "I'll just walk the rest of the way. It's easier than you driving." I lie smoothly. I couldn't afford to let him to know that I work at the hospital.

"Do not throw your trash around my car!" He snaps, chucking the empty bag back at me. "Get." He orders, wiggling the car stick again.

"Yeah yeah, mom." I grumble, grabbing the bag off of the car floor and hopping out. "Er, thanks." I mumble, awkwardly holding the door for a second unsure of what to do.

"Shut the damn door." He sighs, scratching behind his right ear. "You're irritating me."

"Yeah yeah." I repeat, grinning as I slam the door. I give half a wave as he drives away.

"Bastard." I mumble, the usual venom absent from my tone. I've barely shut the door before he drives away. For some reason I expected one of those moments like in the movies where the guy peels off, but no. Not that asshole. He even drives like he's too good to be like everyone else. Who does that?

I can't help but begin to laugh; something about that interaction was just plain _funny._ But, here's to another day at work.

* * *

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading! More to come soon since I'll be back home in less than a week. It'll be so sad to leave Italy! I love this place! If you've never been- go. That's an order.


	8. Chapter 8

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._ I curse to myself, jogging down the street. _I'm going to be late if I don't hurry the fuck up! _What a day to be late, too! My friends are gonna kill me! I finally have enough time to spend at the arcade and I sleep in. Damnit!

"Sorry!" I cry out to a businessman, nearly colliding headfirst into him as I round the corner. Where are all these people going anyway! It's freezin' out here.

"Jou!" I stumble slightly on the sidewalk, just nearly missing a faceplant into the concrete, and glance around me. What kind of idiot runs right past their friends? Wait, don't answer that.

"Yug'!" I call back, waving at Yugi's head as it sticks outside of the arcade door. I run up panting and squeeze in while he's holding the door open.

"Jou, you ran past the arcade…" Yugi mentions, a frown growing on his face.

"Yeah, I wasn't really thinkin'…" I confess with a goofy grin. "For some reason I thought we were goin' to get pizza or somthin'." I lie smoothly with a shrug. Honestly I just keep forgetting how much closer I live to the arcade now, seein' as I never have time to come anyway.

"Are you ever thinking?" Honda teases, flicking me in the ear.

"Hey!" I snap back and punch lightly in the arm. "I think plenty." I defend my honor.

"Of course." Anzu agrees thoughtfully.

"See?" I turn to Honda and point my finger rudely in his face.

"About food." Anzu tacks on at the end.

"What!" I cry loudly and stomp my foot. "Uncalled for!" I shout.

"Come on guys," Yugi interrupts. "Jou thinks about more than just food. You forgot about sleep. And Duel Monsters."

"But that's probably about it." Honda finalizes.

My face drops in mock hurt and I place a hand to my chest. "Yug!" I plea and lean on top of Yugi. "How could you, man!"

Yugi laughs and pats my arm. "There, there, I'll buy you some pizza to make up for it." He promises and my head shoots up.

"Pizza? I'm in!" I happily agree, bouncing off towards our usual hangout spot.

"See? Food." I hear Anzu say just behind me.

"I heard that!" I yell at her while flopping into a chair.

"Heard what?" She asks innocently, throwing her coat and hat on the back of her chair. All three of them had been holding their coats, damn am I late. "I didn't hear a thing, did you Yug?"

"I heard Jou's tummy rumbling." Yugi replies innocently and rifles through his bag. "Let's go get some pizza." He smiles brightly, pulling his wallet out.

"Aye, aye, cap'n!" I salute and jump back onto my feet.

"You act like you haven't eaten in a week." Honda teases, shoving his hands into his pocket. "Yeesh, you forget to eat this mornin'?"

"Why you-" I grab the front of his shirt, my fist ready. "Of course I-" I stop and blink a few times. _Did I forget to eat?_ I blink a few times before grinning sheepishly. "I woke up kinda late…" I confess and release his shirt, rubbing my tummy.

"Oh, Jou." Yugi pats my arm sympathetically. "I knew we picked a really early time for you."

"Should have gone with 3 in the afternoon." Anzu tsks as she finishes her order with the cashier and goes to the machine to select a drink. "Noon is far too early for this rascal!"

"Oi!" I pout and flip my nose in the air. I'm not that bad, right? Honestly, she must be exaggerating. I glance at the clock and stomp my foot on the ground realizing the time. "It's not even noon now!" I point out, thrusting my finger in the general direction of an over-sized cartoony clock on the wall.

"Might as well be, it's 11:59!" Sge teases lightly, inserting a straw into her beverage.

"What kind of pizza did you want today, Jou?" Yugi interrupts while placing our order.

"Whatever you're havin', I ain't picky!" I grin at the thought of delicious pizza.

"You'd eat anything as long as it smelled good." Honda threw in and pops the lid onto his soda cup. "Hell, I'd be willing to bet you might eat it as long as it doesn't smell bad… You ever think about getting a job as a professional food consumer?"

"That a thing?" I ask with wide, hopeful eyes.

"As a food critic." Yugi says and hands me an empty cup. "Though I think you usually have to be a chef to be one." He explains, stepping up to the drink machine to select his soda-type.

"Damn." I grumble, my hopes dashed. I select a soda at random, wait for the cup to fill, and head back to our table with the others as our food is cooking.

"It's too bad the job best suited to you is forever out of your grasp." Honda lightly jokes. "Though you might be able to get a job as a guinea pig testing questionable products?" He says thoughtfully, tapping his finger against his cheek. He completely ignores the half-dirty look I'm shooting his way. "Nah, it's hopeless." He says a moment later.

"Tch. You're just out to destroy my happiness today." I grumble, pretending to be mortally wounded. "Just let me die here and now!" I moan and drop my head on the table. "All my hopes and dreams have left me!"

"There, there." Yugi and Anzu comfort, both patting me on the back. "You'll be alright." They say in unison.

"Hmp." I reply. The rest of the afternoon progressed pretty similarly. I beat Honda at several games, destroyed Anzu in all of them, and lost spectacularly to Yugi at every game. By the time 4pm rolls around I've nearly forgotten I need to be at work at 5.

"Well, gentleman," I say and ignore Anzu's protests, "I'd like to say I could never get enough o' yo' ugly mugs, but then I'd be a liar." I joke and I slip my coat on, grabbing my bag from the floor. "But I best be gettin' on with my day. Gotta get home before Pops realizes I'm not still in bed and wonders why I ain't finished my chores." I wink, lightening the moment.

"I did promise Gramps I'd be back in time to help with supper." Yugi says lightly and he too puts on his coat.

"It was nice seeing you, Yugi, Honda." Anzu sticks her tongue out at me, tugging her hat onto her head. "Monster-face." She tips her nose up at me and struts away. She winks just before I lose sight of her face and I grin back. Gotta love that girl.

"Later, dinosaur!" I reply and wave at her back, her only response is a rude gesture. I laugh, giving Yugi a hug just before he bounds off towards the rear exit.

"C'mon, Jou." Honda grabs my elbow and tugs me towards the front entrance. Crap! What if he wants to walk home together?

"Ehh, where you goin'?" I ask, playing stupid.

"Not the same direction as you." He says in a tight, forced voice. "I should be the one to ask you where you're goin'." He interrogates, pushing the front door open letting an arctic blast hit me in the face.

"Home, weren't you listenin'?" I lie smoothly and amble along. "Oww!" I hiss, rubbing the back of my head. "What's your problem?" I bite out and come to a halt at the corner of the street.

"Quit lyin' to me, man!" Honda snaps back, a serious expression on his face. "I know you ain't goin' home. I know you been lyin' for a while now! I respect your need for privacy, but don't treat me like an invalid!" He growls out, his hands balled into fists.

"Look, Honda." I try again, my mouth set firmly. "I ain't treatin' you like that." I continue slowly, trying to think of anything to say that'll be enough for him.

"You are." He argues, his jaw set. "I meant it when I said you ain't gotta tell me. But you gotta stop lyin' too. Just tell me you're bein' safe." He grinds out, staring just behind my shoulder. "Tell me you ain't in too deep." He nearly pleads.

My eyes widen, finally realizing what he means. "No, man, no." I shake my head firmly. "I ain't doin' what you think, I swear. I'd never go back to that." I grip my fists and meet his eyes squarely as he looks me in the eye. "I made a promise to you and to Yugi. I'd rather die than break that."

Honda exhales in relief and places a hand on my shoulder. "I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that." He pulls me into a tight hug. "You're my brother, man." He says into my shoulder. "I'd hate to see you waste what we've worked so hard for."

I grin goofily and pound his back. "I may be an idiot sometimes," I confess as we pull apart. "But I ain't _that_ dumb," I promise and glance at my watch. "It ain't anywhere near that serious. Just picked up some extra stuff." I shrug awkwardly and ruffle my hair.

"Extra stuff?" Honda asks suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "So much extra you ain't sleepin' at home?"

"Lately I ain't been able to sleep well." I mumble, half lying and half telling the truth. "It's just hard to fall asleep, I don't know. But there's no need to worry so much." I grin and throw a thumbs up. "I'll be alright." I assure him.

"Alright." He finally breathes out and punches me lightly on the shoulder. "I got things to do so I'll leave it at this for now. But one day you will tell me everything." He threatens and turns back the way we came. "Make good choices!" He shouts and takes off.

"I do what I want!" I yell back at him and start heading towards the Hospital as fast as I can. No need to dawdle and risk being late!

_But am I actin' that weird? _I ask myself, my grin fading from my face, my eyebrows knitting together. _Maybe I need to figure something else out. Work less museum hours at night? I'm doin' alright with the bills and money issues and catchin' up on some sleep would be amazin'_… I muse and jump to a stop as a car honks loudly and zooms by.

"Should probably watch where I'm goin', heh heh." I laugh awkwardly to myself and look up and see the clearly labeled "Don't Walk" man on the light. I glance around to see if anyone noticed. People are mostly shuffling by, ignoring the day. I grin in relief and dart forward when the light changes and it's safe.

"Close one." I grin to myself and dash around the block. I skid to a complete stop catching sight of an older man across the street going the same direction. "Dad." I whisper gently, my eyes round as saucers. It's been so long since I last saw him. I can't help but stare as he walks farther and farther away.

I glance both ways and recklessly run across the street to follow him. I ain't got much time, but a few minutes of surveillance might be worth it. "Where're you going?" I ask under my breath and dart off after him. I watch for a while, catching quite a few good views of his person.

He looks almost completely normal! He's dressed properly, his face is cleanly shaven and he looks like he might be sober. What if he's cleaned up? I muse, nervously hugging the corner of a building, the brick biting into my hand. _And what if he's actin' normal 'cause he's out on the streets?_ My mind supplies.

I breathe deeply and shake my head. "I ain't got the time right now!" I curse myself and glance at my watch. "Shit!" I exclaim and dart back behind the corner in case he heard me. "I'm gonna be late!" I curse, zip down a side alley, and begin to run towards the hospital. _Today's been such a crazy day, I can't even imagine what work's gonna be like. _I groan to myself hoping I can manage to be no more than five minutes late!

* * *

I sneak into the hospital wearing a super-spy disguise, hat and all, for my special mission today. _Operation: Freedom!_ I quietly hum an old tune from a spy movie I saw with Honda once while I make my way to the second floor. I glance around every corner and keep my head low as I pass people I know.

I continue humming as I dodge into Kanse's room, a fake gun made from my right hand held in front of me, a large box in my other hand used as a fake shiled. "Don't worry, damsel!" I cry, scouting the room with my fake pistol. "I'm here to save to day!"

"Jou!" Kanse greets warmly as I duck behind his hospital bed. "What's happened, my boy?" He asks in concern and I frown.

"Eh?" I ask, setting the large box I'd brought to the side. "Oh!" I'd forgotten about my face. I was currently sporting a slightly bruised left cheek and a small cut in my lip. I hit myself in the forehead, pulling the lid off of the box. "A friend, sort of, hit me in the face a few times and told me to stop being stupid." I mumble quickly, glossing over a majority of the details from earlier that week.

"Oh?" Kanse asks and sits down on the edge of his bed. He looked healthier in his street clothes than in a hospital gown. It was hard to believe he was truly terminal.

"Yeah." I shuffle awkwardly from foot to foot trying to avoid the story.

"I'm listening." He told me, hands folded on his lap.

I puff air out of my lungs noisily and begin folding his knitted blanket from his neighbor to put it in the box. "You remember the friend I told you about?" I ask him and shake the wrinkles out before placing the blanket in the box. "Well, I sort of yelled at him for acting normal. Something bad happened and he was pretendin' it didn't." I explain awkwardly before picking up one of Kanse's many sweaters to fold.

"Something bad?" Kanse asks, his brow wrinkling in confusion while I shake out his sweater.

"Right, and it really freaked me out. This guy is like a brick friggen wall, bad shit doesn't happen to him. Not if he can stop it, anyway." I place the sweater in the box and pick up two photo frames already neatly wrapped in newspaper. "So I was there and it really freaked me out, like I said. And he was actin' like it never happened!" I huffed and waved my arms about.

"Careful not to hit yourself in the face with those." Kanse says gently and I sheepishly grin and place the frames in the box. "Go on." He prompts gently and I nod.

"Right, so I finally snapped, it's been about a week and a half by this point, and I corner him and demand to know what the hell it was all about. So he told me to mind my own business. And of course I told him no." I shrug and hop onto the bed next to Kanse, accepting a piece of candy and popping it into my mouth. "So I told him not a chance, like I said, and then shoved his shoulder back when he tried to walk around me. I should have seen it coming, but somehow I didn't." I explain pointing to my face. "Anyway, he hit me in the face which really pissed me off. So I hit him back and we end up fighting for a few seconds before he sends me flying. I don't know how the bastard does it every time." I mumble thoughtfully and scratch my chin.

"What happened after?" Kanse asks curiously, bringing me back to earth.

"Oh, right. I jump back onto my feet but he's already turned around and started to walk away. I refuse to let him go so I started yelling at him until he stops dead and I ran into him. And then he was all 'There isn't anything for you to be concerned about. Ignore that it happened and move on.'" I roll my eyes and flop backwards onto the bed. "I knew when he used that tone there wasn't any sense in badgering him further, unless I wanted a few less teeth. But that shit wasn't normal! How do you just go and forget it!?" I cry out, throwing my hands into the air above my head.

"Well," Kanse begins, sounding confused, "Maybe you should let him come to you in time. He acknowledged it happened at all if he told you to forget about it. Let him feel comfortable enough to tell you." Kanse smiles gently and pats my hand. I squint at him for a few seconds, feeling like we're not on the same page.

"Alright." I agree a moment later and bounce back onto my feet. "Let's get you outta here." I grin and offer him my right arm.

"Sounds more like it!" He smiles warmly and accepts the offered arm. "The paper work is all finished and we can leave when we're done here. We'll just have to let Kanako wheel me out in a chair, something about rules." He expresses merrily and wanders over to his last remaining items and places them gently in the box. "Thank you so much for helping me today, Jou." He smiles happily and places the lid on the box. "I'm excited for you to meet my family! Mittens has been waiting to meet you too. Hopefully Whiskers won't think you're a new scratch post." He nods happily as a nurse steps into the room.

"Kanse-san, are you ready?" He asks in a warm, rich voice.

"Yes, Kangoshi-san." Kanse nods sagely while I swipe his box off the table.

"There you are!" Kanako sings as she bounds into the room, just behind Kangoshi.

"Like he's moved suddenly or something?" I tease and raise an eyebrow.

"Hmp." She replies and turns her nose into the air.

"Still mad at you, is she?" Kanse asks merrily as he slides into the wheelchair.

"Of course." I grin back. "I don't remember what I did this time though." I mutter thoughtfully. "Think she'll make me walk?" I ask, trailing along with the box.

"Nah." Kanse winks as he is rolled from the room. I follow obediently after, turning every corner and hopping into the elevator just on time. Though truthfully I think Kangoshi held the button to keep the doors open for me.

"I appreciate you letting me drive you home." Kanako says as she wipes at her eyes. "You were always my favorite!" She whines and sniffs as the elevator comes to a stop.

"No, no, thank you, Kanako-san!" Kanse replies, hand to his heart. "I appreciate this more than I can say!"

"Oh, brother." I shake my head and hurry after the pair. This is getting too ridiculous.

"Don't you start, meany-head." Kanako warns as she tilts her head slightly higher in the air. "Just be happy I cleaned out my car so you have a place to sit back there."

"Phew." I say and grin. "I was actually worried." I tease, following her lead to the parking lot.

"Don't you upset her." Kangoshi warns as we stop at Kanako's little, black car. "She might run your foot over in an attempt to leave you behind." He grins and pulls the door open for Kanse-san to climb in. "See you tomorrow, you two." He nods and heads back towards the hospital with the wheel chair.

"Bye!" Kanako and Kanse call out. I simply wave while awkwardly holding onto the box. "Put that in the back." Kanako orders and tugs the door open for me.

"Gee, thanks." I stick my tongue out at her and shove the box in. I quickly slide the box all the way over and hop in myself before she gets the bright idea to actually leave me behind.

"I wouldn't actually leave without you." She claims as she climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car.

"Suuuure." I agree half-heartedly. "Sure." And with that, we were off to Kanse's home.

* * *

"So, where we goin'?" I ask conversationally, striding along merrily.

"_I_ am going to work. _You_ are going to get lost." Kaiba bites out, jerking his black car door open. He angrily pulls out a stick with a brush on it.

"What's that?" I ask nosily. I tug the passenger side door open and throw my bag in.

"An ice-scraper." He snaps and begins to brush snow from his windshield. "Get out of my car." He snaps.

"Noooope." I reply and sut the door behind me. I rifle through his car for a moment until I find his keys. "Aha!" I crow and stick the key into the ignition and turn it.

"Why are you turning my car on instead of getting out?" Kaiba yells as he walks around the car.

"Eeep!" I cry and hit the lock down worried he might drag me out bodily. "It's cold!" I yell through the window and rub my hands together for emphasis.

"I hate you." Kaiba yells, but doesn't try to open the door. Instead he just walks by brushing snow off the window.

I roll the window down slightly after he's removed the snow. "And on the upside, it'll be warm by the time you get in here." I grin cheekily, waggling my eyebrows.

"Turn my seat warmer on and roll up your damn window." He barks in reply.

_Seat warmer?_ I wonder, staring at the buttons on what I now know is called a 'Dash'. Seeing two buttons that have a small photo of a seat above them and a dial of foreign numbers, I push them down. "My butt doesn't feel any warmer…" I murmur and huddle deeper into my coat. I roll the numbers on the dial until I recognize what I'm pretty sure means five. Or maybe six. Either way, it's all the way up and my butt is still cold. "How much ice is this asshole trying to scrape, anyway?" I mumble and shiver.

The driver side door is suddenly pulled open wide and a burst of cold air hits me in the face. "You're impossible." Kaiba growls out as he throws the strange stick in the back and slams the door closed.

"Cold." I mumble in reply and burrow deeper into my coat.

"That's because you didn't turn the heat on." Kaiba snaps and hits several dials, including one that reminds me of a bacon square.

"It does not look like bacon." Kaiba snaps suddenly making me frown.

"Huh?" I mumble out loud as he drives the car forward. "I didn't say that." I huff, fairly certain I hadn't.

"I know you were thinking it." He bites out and flicks me in the ear. "Seatbelt." He commands and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever." I reply, pulling my hands from my warm pockets to tug on the cold strap. "Why did you let it be so cold today?" I demand while clicking the metal buckle in.

"You're deranged." He grunts, his gloved fingers gripping the wheel hard enough I can hear the leather squeak.

"And you're going to break the turny-wheel and we're all going to die." I reply, crossing my arms and sitting back.

"Idiot." He sighs.

We sit in silence for a while until my cheeks are on fire. "You know, this butt-warmer thing is intense." I inform him, shoving my hands under my butt and grinning broadly as I finally start to feel my fingertips again.

"Honestly, you can not have been born this stupid." He grumbles and turns down an unkown street. "No one is born this stupid."

"Where're we goin'?" I ask, ignoring his comment.

"Work. I just said that." He grunts, breathing out of his nose in irritation.

"But this isn't the way to work." I argue, squinting to look out the windshield.

"Yes it is." He argues, sounding only mildly irritated. Everything is just covered in snow so it looks differently." He explains as though I'm some sort of complete moron.

"Now you're just makin' shit up." I argue shaking my head. "I think I'd be able to tell if we're still in Domino or not and we're most definitely not." I inform him, exaggerating the case a little.

"Okay, Dorothy." He grumbles and continues driving in the wrong direction.

"Who's Dorothy?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Just be quiet." He commands.

"Fine." I reply coolly and flip the radio on. I fumble through the buttons twice before settling on an obnoxious song on the last click.

"You picked this on purpose." Kaiba grouses and hits the second button twice.

"These buttons are programmed twice!?" I exclaim excitedly hitting each button twice and discovering new stations.

"Technically they're programmed four times. " He explains before swatting my hand away from the buttons. "Stop it. I like this one." He scolds.

"You like this crap?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow. "This is from the 40's or something." I roll my eyes as a rather loud brass instrument blows in the background of the song.

"1943, now be quiet." He scowls and we spend the rest of the car ride bickering about songs. We pull into the Kaiba Corps garage roughly 10 minutes later than we usually would.

"Now go home." He commands as he switches the car off and snags his briefcase from beside my feet.

"Tch." I reply and cross my arms. "Not a chance." I argue as he rubs his face before groaning in irritation.

"Don't you ever go away?" He grumbles, throwing his door open and messing with his hair.

"Of course not!" I remind him, slamming my door shut behind me, cheerfully leaving my bag in the car.

"Bring your bag. You have homework." He says without turning around and walking away.

"Jerk." I grumble tugging the door open and snatching my bag. I jump as the locks thunk closed and the horn beeps. "Bastard!" I yell at him and jog to catch up.

"Hn." Is his only reply as he punches in the code to the security door and strolls inside. I straggle along after him all the way to his office, saluting his prim receptionist and kicking his office door closed behind me.

"So, what're you workin' on today?" I hum, throwing my bag onto the back couch and flop myself into one of the front armchairs.

"A weapon of minor destruction." He replies with a straight face as he sets his laptop on the desk and stares at me with a cold, calculated look. "It's a nano-chip that explodes in the brain of an idiot. Scrambling what isn't there until nothing leaks of the moron's ears and doesn't stain the floor."

"Is that some kind of crack at my intelligence?" I growl at him, pounding my fist against the smooth surface of his desk.

"Of course." He replies with a blank look before taking his laptop from his briefcase and settles in to work. "Now shut up and go fetch your history book. I know you haven't finished your research assignment." He commands effortlessly and begins tapping away at keys.

"Fine." I grumble, finishing what I'm sure was a frigid death glare, and trotting to the back couch and snatching my bag. "But I ain't gotta like it." _Or do it silently._ I chuckle to myself and stalk back to what I now see as my chair and plopping down. I tug out my book and begin making a popping noise with my lips every few minutes as I read through the book.

We go about our business for half an hour before he finally cracks. "Stop!" He snaps, his hands smacking the keyboard. "That incessant noise must stop this moment." He snarls, his nostrils wide and left eye twitching.

"Okay, okay, no need to get your panties in a bunch." I grin broadly at him and turn back to my book. He glares at me for a full minute before turning back to his work. I wait a while more before I begin to slowly drum my fingers against the armchair.

"Oh for the love of-" He snaps before standing up and coming around the desk.

"Eeeyuh" I cry and try to scramble away as he snatches my book from my hand and smacks me upside the head with his free hand.

"You're not even reading the right chapter!" He groans and smacks me with the book.

"Oww." I mumble and rub my right arm. "No need to be so violent."

"Here." He ignores my comment and hands the book back, three chapters ahead of where I'd been looking.

"But this doesn't-" I begin, tilting my head to glance at him and snapping my jaw shut at his expression.

"Read that chapter and re-read the report prompt." He orders and sits back down.

We continue this way for quite a while. I've fetched a notebook from my bag and he's collected three sets of blue-prints and four files from about the room. "What's that for, anyway?" I ask as I finish jotting down some notes on the chapter he's selected for me.

"Work." He replies before holding his hand out. "Notebook." He demands and continues writing with the other.

"Not done." I grumble and hand it over anyway. I wait patiently while he checks it over and scribbles all over it. "Hey." I whine as he's crossing something out.

"Shush." He commands before flicking the book back at me. "Continue." He says before pausing thoughtfully. "Silently."

I stick my tongue out at him and read over what he's written and changed. "Huh." I mumble and flip the book a few pages back. "But-" I begin before I'm cut off.

"No buts, I'm not wrong." He says as I roll my eyes and open my mouth. "And you're fourteen pages too far back." He says without looking up. Damn alien.

"Yeah yeah." I mutter and get back to work. "Alien." I accuse under my breath.

"No." He says under his breath. The corner of my mouth twitches in amusement.

An hour later, three more pages of notes, two less blue prints but six charts later finds the pair of us silently trudging on with our respective tasks. Finally a moment of true productivity. And in true Jounouchi-Kaiba fashion, the lights flicker off and the building goes quiet.

"Damnit!" Kaiba snaps violently, his face lit by the glow of the computer screen.

"You mean when the power goes off that thing keeps goin'?" I ask in awe, head tilted to the side.

"You don't really think I'm going to let it crash and force me to start over?" He inquires, brows lifted. His face is even more pale in the glow of the computer. "Though why the generators didn't catch this…" He mumbles before standing up suddenly. "Wait here, touch nothing." He snaps and strides from the room. "It's strange for the entire office to go completely dark…" He mutters to himself as he tugs the office door open, not a single light crept in.

I wait for a few minutes tapping my fingers against the chair before I snap my books closed and throw them on his desk. "Snoopin' time!" I grin and bound around the desk. "Hope his cameras are off too…" I hum to myself and turn up the brightness to his laptop and start rifling through his desk. "Nothin', nothin', nothin'…." I mutter, carefully putting everything back where I found it as I search. "Damn!" I curse as I drop a pen onto the floor. Anyone else and I'd leave it. This bastard probably has his pens numbered and singularly accounted for. "Shit." I curse as I drop to the floor and grope around for the lost pen. I crawl completely under the desk searching when I finally hear the soft hum of an electronic I hadn't noticed before. "What the-?" I ask the air and slide my hands against the underside of the desk, feeling a divot in the wood. "Weird." I mumble and tug on the indent.

"Whoa!" I cry as it pops open and cold air leaks into the tiny space under the desk. "He's got a mini-fridge down here!?" I scoot back out from under the desk and grab his cell phone from his coat pocket. I dive back under the desk to rifle through the fridge. "He actually drinks flavored water?" I gag and rifle through the bottles until my hand hits a plastic baggy in the back. "Hmm?" I mumble and scoot bottles around and tug the baggy forward.

"SHIT!" I cry and drop the bag hurriedly. My heart is pounding in my chest as I notice the needles and tiny bottles of clear liquid and miniature boxes clearly containing other drugs. "Damnit!" I cry, grabbing the baggy back up and twisting it around to read the labels. "Dilaudid?" I mumble under my breath, probably mispronouncing the medication. I squint at the prescribing doctor, Dr. Izine of course, and the tiny amount of information on the bottle. I shake my head and commit the name to memory and moving onto the next box. "Me-perid-ine?" I stumble out, also committing the name to memory. I shudder as I shift the needles over through the baggy to read the last two names on the bottle. I jump as the lights flicker on and off again. I glance back down at the baggy, only noticing an "N" on one bottle and an "L" on the other before hurrying to shove the baggy back in the fridge and re-arrange the bottles of water.

I scoot out from under the desk, dropping his phone back into his pocket and darting around to the other side of the desk. I snatch my books back up just as the lights flicker back on. And stay on. I calm my breathing and flip my books back open. I flip to an early page in my notebook and scrawl down the names of the two drugs I'd found as well as an "N" and an "L". I'll have to do some research to figure out what they could possibly be.

I close my books and swing my legs over the edge and tilt my head back. No use acting productive, he'd see right through that. Might as well sit and ponder the universe… I wait for another 5 minutes before his office door bangs open and he sulks back inside. "Get your feet off the chair." He barks coldly, his jacket flapping behind him.

"I've missed you too." I bat my eyelashes at him, swinging my feet to the floor.

"Shut up." He growls before starting to snap all the folders closed and rolling up the blueprints. "Pack up, we're heading home for the evening." He instructs and hits several keys on his keyboard and then his laptop.

"So early?" I mock and hop to my feet, glad to be free of reading this history assignment.

"The storm is only going to get worse." He grinds out and finishes packing everything he is working on. "No sense in staying here when even the backup generators aren't capable of doing their jobs." I grin while noticing his tone of discontent. There was clearly some idiot on some lower floor brave enough to piss him off. That, or stupid enough. "Stop grinning, you overly cheerful baboon."

"Nooope." My grin broadens and I shove my books into my bag and zip it closed.

"Hn." Is his irritated reply as he stuffs the last file into his case and snaps it shut. "Grab those prints." He orders and grabs his coat, shoving it on. I make a face at him, zip up my own coat, throw my bag on my shoulder, and pick up his cardboard tubes. "Let's go." He demands and strides forward effortlessly, one hand held his briefcase and the other his laptop. I'd never seen him take home so much work he couldn't fit his laptop in his briefcase…

"Stop staring." He barks, holding the door open for me to exit.

"Hey, when did she leave?" I ask, nodding towards the empty receptionist's desk.

"Two hours ago." He replies distractedly. "Hold this." He doesn't give me time to react and I barely manage to grab his laptop before it has a chance to fall. I feel a sweat drop, like from those anime shows, appear above my head as the stress of my near death hits me.

"A little more warning next time!" I wheeze out as he's pulling his keys from his office door. He breezes past, his face blank. I raise my eyebrow tucking his laptop against my side. Either he's lost his mind or he's lost his mind.

"No." He responds and stomps off to the stairwell, stopping a few seconds to turn and snatch his laptop back. He shakes his head when I open my mouth to say something. I snap it closed and just grin as I follow along obediently. "We're taking the stairs, I refuse to get stuck in an elevator with you all night." He snaps and uses his foot to shove the stairwell door open.

"What, several more hours with me too much for you?" I taunt and waggle my eyebrows as I mosey past him.

"Keep that up and I'll shove your ass down every, last stair." He threatens letting the heavy door bang shut behind him. I chuckle and bounce down the stairs at a steady pace. "I hope you get tired and miss a step and by proxy roll down the stairs to a gory death at the bottom." He grumbles behind me, sounding tired. I glance behind me hoping to see him huffing and puffing his way down. I stick my tongue out at his normal, stoic expression. Bastard can't even have the decency to look as exhausted as he sounds.

"Jackass!" I sing out as I continue to spring down every stair just to spite him. _Having two days off in a row does wonders for a Jounouchi's energy, I'll tell ya! _I kept up the pace all the way down to the garage, just don't ask how. I'm a little winded by the bottom, but the grin is still on my face.

"Imbicile." Kaiba snaps, strolling through the door I'm holding open for him.

"I'll take that as a thank you. You're welcome!" I say in an exaggerated voice.

"Keep that up and you're walking home." He challenges and stops just next to a tan car. Who knew the man had more than one car at Kaiba Corps on any given day? "Hold this." He gives me a few more seconds warning, still not enough, before dropping his laptop into my arms again. He fishes his keys out of his pocket and inserts the key into the driver's side door, ducking inside and unlocking the passenger door for me.

"You ever think about getting this car one of those buttons that makes all the locks pop up at once?" I ask conversationally as he snatches his laptop from my hands and places it in the pocket behind his seat. I'll bet the bastard had that installed just for this purpose.

"Yes." He replies before snatching his blueprint tubes from me and tucking them into the back. "And no." He replies to my next question before tilting his head. "Get in before I leave without you."

I salute and dash around to the door and tug it open just as he starts the car and places his briefcase by where my feet go. I shove my bag into the back and hop into my seat quickly while he slams his door and throws the car into reverse. I jerk my door shut just in time as the tires roll over where I'd been standing moments before.

"Because I don't like automatic locks. A few of my cars are too new not to have them, but this one doesn't. Seatbelt." He says and wiggles the stick. "They irritate me and can be hacked into." He continues as I click my seatbelt in and settle in for a crazy ride. I turn slightly towards him, waiting.

"It's not hard to hack into them." He continues smoothly. "No, I won't teach you." He tugs on one of the sticks coming out of the wheel, making the clicking noise happen. "You really need to learn what the basic parts of operating a car are called. It's a damn turn signal!" He snaps. I lift my other eyebrow. How the hell does he do this?

"You have a simple mind." He answers without being asked. Instead of following a logical pattern, as with most people, I simply predict the most random, yet still plausible option, and reply with that. I've been 95% accurate in guessing your next idiotic question. Yes, I've statistically computed it." He answered when my mouth popped open.

"But-" I begin as he holds his hand up.

"I can do this with most people I've known long enough." He explains, slowing the car well before the light. "And it's snowing. This is a sports car, albeit an older model, not an SUV. Look it up. And no." He answers successively. I sit back and pout.

"I agree." He replies to my unspoken thought. "You'll simply have to leave me alone more often." He tells me.

"HA!" I cry with glee pointing a finger at him. "I was wondering what to make for dinner." I grin in triumph.

"And just before you were wondering if my ability to pick apart your puny brain stemmed from how often you stalk me." He replies flippantly.

"Follow." I amend with a mumble.

"No." He replies before pulling off to the side and parking in an odd parking lot. "Wait here." He replies and hops out of the car after fiddling with the heat controls on the dash. I hum merrily as he disappears into the building he'd parked behind.

It takes him longer than I expected. The windows began to collect fluffy snowflakes, most melting and rolling away. I turn up the radio, fiddling with the buttons, and hum along to songs I know. I nearly jump as his door pulls open 15 minutes later and he tugs his seat forward and places several boxes on the back seat. "No." He replies when my mouth opens and I roll my eyes.

"You don't even know what I was going to say." I argue this time, there's no way he knew I was going to ask to go to Yugi's since it was much closer than my place and the roads were terrible.

"But I knew you were going to ask something. You've been here long enough for a asinine idea to occur." He replies pushing his seat back. "Here." He drops a large brown paper sack on my lap. "It's food." He explains at my expression. He rolls his eyes as my face lights up. "Irritant." He snaps and slams his door shut. "You're lucky this was on the way to your apartment." He grumbles before putting his seatbelt back on and making the window blades "Wipers-" _blades_ fling the snow-water from the window.

"Will you _stop doing that!?"_ I exclaim in irritation. "It's seriously annoying!" I grumble to myself.

"Have more complex thoughts." He argues putting the car back into drive and setting off toward my apartment.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you-"

"I said no." He replies, turning down a main road.

"But it's-" I try again as he holds his hand up.

"Listen, I'm either driving you home or letting you out here. Take your pick." He offers, still driving slower than normal.

"Home." I mumble, sinking into my seat. "JustwantedtogotoYugi's'cuaseit'scloser." I mumble out as quickly as I can before he can interrupt.

"You want to explain to Yugi how you got there in this weather?" Kaiba asks smugly as he slows down drastically and turns onto the correct main road leading to my apartment.

"Er, no." I mutter thoughtfully.

"Mmhmm." He replies in his stupid Kaiba voice. "Whatever rude thought you just had, it's your own damn fault."

"I didn't have a rude thought." I reply, staring out the window. "Simply mocked your voice." I told him.

"Simpleton." He replies and changes the station of the radio.

"Is this even in Japanese?" I ask curiously, tilting my head trying to listen to the lyrics.

"No, it's in Portuguese." He replies and proceeds to name the song.

"You speak Portuguese?" I ask thoughtfully as he hums a yes.

"It's a business language." He replies without being asked.

"Have you ever been to, er, Portugal, is it?" I ask curiously wondering how often he actually spoke Portuguese.

"Twice." He replies, slowly stopping at another red light. "Though I've been to Brazil at least eight times." He adds, oddly conversational. "It's a nice place."

I stare at him until the light turns green and he jerks the car forward. "Ay!" I snap, startled. "You did that on purpose." I accuse as his stupid smirk stretches across his face.

"Then don't stare." He snaps back.

"Jerk." I grumble. "Ruinin' a normal moment." I fuss, settling back into my seat.

"Hn." He replies. The rest of the trip passes silently and he pulls up to my apartment building about 15 minutes later.

"Thanks." I grumble, hopping out of the car and grabbing my bag with my free hand.

"Finish your history report before Monday." He orders as I roll my eyes and mock salute him, my backpack swaying dangerously in my left hand. "Shut the door, it's cold." He snaps and drives away as soon as the door is closed and I've hopped out of the way.

"Jerk." I grumble and rush into the apartment building and hurry up the stairs. Too bad I've gotta get up early to go to the library. "Stupid Kaiba." I grumble, wishing I had the internet at my apartment. Though at least I have free time without needing to make dinner.

I yawn widely, shove my key into my door, ram my hip into it, and shuffle into my dark apartment. I kick the door closed behind me and let my bag fall to the floor next to the door. I twist the locks shut and shuffle into the kitchen.

_What's in here, anyway?_ I wonder, setting the bag on the table. It smells delicious and oddly familiar. I root around in the bag and pull out a black styrofoam container and pop the lid open. "Takoyaki!" I exclaim excitedly, popping one of the balls into my mouth. "And delicious too." I hum happily, popping a second ball into my mouth.

I pull out another container and pop the lid open. My eyes widen and my mouth pops open. "That bastard!" I huff and sniff the container. "Who does he think he is, ordering monjayaki!" I snag the cheap chopsticks from my bag and shovel some food into my mouth. "Jerk." I mumble, my mouth full.

I pull out the last two containers. I open the small, round cup and sniff experimentally. My scowl deepens and I sip the kenchinjiru softly. I roll my eyes and remove the lid from the last container. "Double chocolate cake." I mutter darkly. "That gigantic asshole!" I complain and hop onto a barstool. I shovel more food into my mouth and pop in another takoyaki ball. _How the hell does he even know my favorite foods!? _

* * *

"Okay, today's the day." I tell myself, my heart pounding. I drum my fingers against the metal bar and watch the red numbers tick higher and higher. _But what if it doesn't go well?_ I ask nervously, wondering if this was such a great idea after all. _Of course it isn't going to go well, stupid._ My inner voice reminds me. I wince realizing I could very well be heading to my imminent death. _You've already decided to do this so you're doing it._

I remind myself as the little red number nears the top. _That shit is dangerous, you have to do something. Opiates will kill him!_ I sigh as the elevator dings and the metal doors slide open.

"Good morning." I nod my head conversationally to a random employee. I hold in my smirk as the man stops to stare while I walk by. It's not everyday he'd see someone like me on this floor, after all. I never visit without Him either.

"Morning?" He questions awkwardly before his footsteps resume. Interesting, I'd always wondered if employees here would stop random-ass people heading to His office or let them go assuming they were supposed to be there. At least the security guard downstairs has grown used to me by now.

"Hello, Margaret." I greet, using my most flirtatious tone. "You're looking absolutely ravishing this morning." I lean one hand against her desk and grin.

"It's 5 in the afternoon, Jounouchi-san." She replies in her usual monotone voice.

"But it's only 9 in Rome." I inform her cheerfully.

"He's busy." She replies, lowering her gaze back to her work.

"Isn't he always?" I ask with a wink. "Scale of one to ten, what's his temper at?" I question, trying my best to seem casual.

"It's at a 6." She responds without looking up.

"Well, that's rather low then!" I smack the top of her desk lightly and point my finger in her direction. "Keep up the good work." I wink cheesily and head over to His door and pound on it twice. "OI!" I cry out before twisting the nob and shoving the heavy door open. "You decent?" I ask, striding in like I'm supposed to be here today.

"Turn around and leave." He snaps violently.

"Huh, she totally just lied to me." I reply, continuing to my chair and flopping down. "You're definitely at a 7." I inform him, expecting him to just know.

"Did you know a fully grown pig will chew through bone and flesh?" He says insightfully, his typing never slowing down.

"Or an 8." I reply with a shrug.

"What do you want?" His voice sounds distracted and he generically tells me, "I'm busy."

"Just got something I was thinkin' about." I mumble awkwardly. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Huh, I didn't know you knew how to do that. I wonder if cocker spaniels can too?" He speaks evenly. My left eye twitches and I kick his desk, hard. "_What!?"_ He snaps and slams his palms on the bottom of his keyboard. "What could you possibly have been pondering so deeply you would hazard drowning over? Let alone risking life and limb to come all the way down here to plague me about?" He seethes, his eyes fully focusing on me.

"Well," I start, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. "It's about you." I tell him honestly. I pause long enough for his eyes to narrow.

"I don't have the time to listen to whatever fatuous concept or idea you've recently dreamt up." He snarls and rubs his left ear. "I don't accept your apology for all the stalking you've been up to lately." He sneers rudely.

"That ain't what I was gonna say!" I snap and jump to my feet in front of his desk.

"Then what are you thinking about?" He snaps and curls his fingers into fists.

"It ain't that easy to just come out and say!" I defend, waving my arms about.

"Then spit it out already." He grinds out between his teeth.

"It's about your, er, problem." I begin awkwardly, shuffling from foot to foot.

"My what?" He grunts, hands slamming on his desk as he stands to lean forward, intimidating.

"Problem!" I yell back at him, stomping my foot.

"What problem!" He yells back, eyes flashing dangerously. "Spit it out already!" He shouts angrily.

"Look, asshole, I know you're addicted to drugs already so you can cut the shit." I snap glaring at him. "There, I said it!"

"You think I'm _what_?" He asks, staring at me.

"Drugs. Yeah, I know." I confide rubbing a hand against my face, losing the anger I'd built up.

We stand in an awkward silence for a few moments before he begins to laugh. "What are ya laughin' at?" I yell at him.

"You're absurd!" He shouts, laughing harder.

"Listen, you can deny it all you want but you've got an addiction!" I slam my palms onto his desk. "This ain't funny!" _Doesn't he know how serious this is?_

"It's hysterical!" He laughs even harder, doubling over. "You should hear yourself!"

I can feel my blood start to boil in my veins. "What the hell is so damn funny, wise ass!" I reach across his desk, pulling his shirt to bring us face to face. "Do I look like I find this funny, jackass? Quit laughing!" I shout, tossing him into his chair. "Addictions are serious!"

"You don't get it!" He laughs harder than I've ever seen. "I'm not addicted to drugs, you dunce." He continues to chuckle for a minute, leaning back into his chair. "I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard in my life." He admits, breathing deeply. "Drugs? Seriously? You're such a dimwit!"

"If you're going to keep lyin' to me, Kaiba, I'm going to punch you in the face." I growl at him, leaning closer towards him.

"You couldn't even if you tried, Jounouchi." He challenges me, raising one of his perfect eyebrows. "Besides, you're wrong. I'm not addicted to drugs." He reiterates, keeping a level gaze.

"Then what do you call 'em? Get-through-the-day-aids?" His absolute refusal of his problem is making me angrier and angrier. This type of denial is excessive! And it ain't like I can just bring up the bottles under his desk. He'd kill me for snooping!

"I'm not addicted to anything." He scoffs. "Unlike you I have pure will and determination to work and that's it. What is it you do all day? Goof off at an arcade playing useless video games?"

"Shut up money bags, you don't know nothin' about my life." I yell, clenching my hands into fists. "You think you're the only one who's got a job? For your information I spend most of my time working, probably even more than you do!" I retort angrily.

"Please." He casts me off, waving a hand in my direction. "Serving pizza doesn't count as a job." The icy, dismissive tone in his voice sends my temper over the edge.

"Shut your little rich kid mouth!" I shout. "You think you're better than everyone but you aren't! You're just a spoiled brat!"

"Get out." Kaiba snaps his voice growing colder.

My nostrils flare as I glare at him. I can practically see the ice chips forming just below the surface of his eyes. _Bastard._ I turn on my heel and head for the door, calling over my shoulder "I've got some news for you, you're a workaholic, means you're addicted to your job! That's right, addicted! You have at least one addiction I have proof for!" I slam the door behind me and stomp past Margaret.

"Now it's a 9." I inform her, my eyes narrowed in my anger. She doesn't reply.

_The nerve of that guy! Why's he always such an asshole, I'm just trying to help him!_ I walk about three blocks away from Kaiba Corp before my steam starts to run out. I lean against a light post rubbing a hand against my face.

"Aaahhh, fuuck!" I curse loudly, slamming the heel of my hand into the light post. "Damint, Jounouchi! Can't you keep your temper in check for five minutes!" I berate myself, hitting the light post again. "That's not how an intervention is staged!" _Damnit!_ I kick the light post hard enough to stumble backwards. _What's wrong with me?_

* * *

"Bye, Jou!" Yugi calls as he passes my desk.

"Later, man." Honda salutes and ruffles my hair on his way out of class for the evening.

"Try not to get into any more trouble." Anzu grins and places a can of Fizz and a bright green straw on my desk. "To cheer you up." She winks and follows Honda and Yugi out of the classroom. I grin and shove the soda into my bag before Hikizan confiscates it. I've got the best friends.

I watch as Kaiba finishes packing his things robotically. He snaps his briefcase closed and walks calmly from the classroom. I sigh and place my head on top of my arms as I watch his coat flap around the corner. _I really fucked this one up. _I comment needlessly.

I sit around for another 10 minutes before I hear footsteps in front of me. "Jounouchi." Hikizan barks, standing just in front of my desk. My head shoots up and my back straightens perfectly.

"I wasn't sleeping." I rush to explain before she can say anything. My mouth snaps closed when she holds a hand up to silence me.

"We have things to, discuss." She says awkwardly, slowly.

"Oh." I mumble, my eyes flicking down to my desk. This was it, she'd found a way to kick me out of school. "I wasn't sleepin', honest." I tell her numbly.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about." She repeats, moving to stand on her other foot.

"Oh, then-?" I ask, lifting my eyes to meet her's again. "Did I do something?" I question in concern.

"Er, no." She fusses, straightening her back. I've come to offer an," she pauses for just a moment before shaking her head "an apology." She forces herself to say. I'm certain the words have caused her some sort of physical pain.

"What?" I ask, staring at Hikizan-sensei like she'd grown a second head.

"I said," She began again, through clenched teeth, "that I'm sorry." I can see the vein in her left eye twitch, freaking me out a little.

"But I-" I start, the confusion clearly written on my face.

"Kaiba-san informed me yesterday afternoon that he's been tutoring you almost all year." She says shortly, her hands gripping the papers in her hands tighter. "And that is the reason behind your improved test scores." She bites out, growing more agitated with each sentence.

"Yesterday?" I ask weakly. The same yesterday I'd screamed in his face about being addicted to drugs? _Ah, hell_.

"Are you losing your hearing?" She snaps, mouth drawn. "And I realize you didn't offer this information yourself for obvious reasons. Had you told me this sooner I wouldn't have believed you. No one would have believed you." She tacked on at the end. I couldn't help but agree.

She flares her nostrils with a deep breath before nodding her head slightly to me and storming away to her desk. I can't help but stare at the spot she'd been standing.

"Does this mean I don't have detention anymore?" I ask, hope budding in my chest. "And that I can keep my test scores?"

"Technically, yes." She spits out, slamming her stapler into a pile of papers. "However," She continues coldly as I jump to my feet to leave. "If I catch you sleeping in my class one more time, you will be right back in detention." She barks, slamming the stapler down again.

"Can do." I salute her before rushing quickly out of the classroom. _I can't believe Kaiba did that for me_. "And then I was such a jackass about his problem. Damnit!" I shout angrily, kicking the school doors open.

* * *

AN: Hey, not dead. Didn't abandon this story either. I'm just a lazy (assuming that lazy is now a noun), and that's all there is. I've got no excuses. Only two chapters left, as an FYI.


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